Legitimate Game
by cartoon moomba
Summary: There's nothing wrong with this game. There isn't a countdown, they're not disappearing, and there is no talk of other worlds that need saving. Really! RikuOC, Humour, Adventure, Mystery, Drama, Romance T for cursing ABANDONED
1. Promise: Prologue

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Promise: Prologue_  
(but one day, they weren't there)_

_--_

**M**ichael Arnyse, Rachelle Jenov and Alexis Hina always made promises they kept. Whether it was from sharing their snacks in kindergarten and vowing to go to the same school together, they were always fulfilled. But they didn't have the perfect fairytale life everybody wished for either. Life's usual troubles interfered from time to time, and as much arguments and cries of 'I wish you were never my friend!' they still stood strong. Then came a short period of time when boys found girls icky, and girls found boys stupid. Their group went apart for a while, but not without longing thoughts and mentions of when their friendship was still alive. In fact, they wanted it back so much, that without thinking properly of what the others would think, they went back together.

And it was that time at the age of fourteen when Michael stood in front of Rachelle's front door for their usual Video-Game Friday meeting, ready to tease his two best friends about beating them in another round – and they weren't there.

Only a note was pinned with messy handwriting to the static-buzzing TV.

'_Michael (or whoever else is reading this):_

_We apologize for going missing. But Alexis got this crazy video game called 'Kingdom Hearts' and wanted to play it. And guess what?_

_We're gonna be gone for a while._

_Apparently, demented voices kidnapping people into games are a usual thing._

_Sorry again for not being here, and sorry for not taking you with us, Michael. Hopefully, we'll only be gone for a little while._

_-Rachelle'_

And for the first time, a promise was broken.

--

_Friday, 4:38 PM, Jenov Residence_

"Rachelle! Rachelle, open the damn door!"

A startled brunette girl ran through her high-ceiling apartment to her front door, instantly recognizing the yells of her best friend. Throwing open the wooden barrier between them, her glare was quickly replaced by a look of curiosity as she noticed the flat box clutched tightly in the girl's hands.

'Playstation 2:  
Kingdom Hearts'

"Don't you think it sounds so cool?" Alexis squealed, her grey eyes twinkling in hyper-excitement behind her glasses. Not even waiting for an answer, she rushed into Rachelle's front hall and twirled around happily, the game still clutched ever so tightly to her chest.

"…"

She stopped when she noticed that the other girl stood silent a few meters behind her, leaning slightly on the now-closed door. Cocking her head in the childish manner that always sent older women smiling and pinching her cheeks (much to her annoyance), Alexis waited questioningly for the other girl's explanation.

The response that she got sent her flailing her arms about.

"Don't you think the name sounds a bit too stupid?"

Alexis stopped and glared at the brunette. "All right, so it might be a little on the childish side," she concluded. "But I still wanna play it. I mean, Square Enix created it, and they made the Final Fantasy games too…" She trailed off as Rachelle shrugged and walked down the hallway to her room, opening it and motioning for Alexis to follow. Doing so and grinning happily again she picked up her book bag that was laying sprawled on the polished floor (Rachelle's parents were super-cleanest-perfectionists, as their other best friend, Michael, found out when he brought over his dog on a day that just happened to be rainy) she plopped herself down beside her friend and gingerly opened the previously-closed box.

"I read some stuff about it before I bought it," she admitted as she handed the instructions booklet to Rachelle. "The controls don't sound too hard, and I'm sure they will be explained some time in the game." Sticking her tongue out when her friend snorted while leafing through the pages, she pressed the 'Restart' button on the Playstation 2 before holding up the controller and leaning forward expectantly.

She whistled slightly as the main screen came on, showing a young boy with spiky brown hair and wearing assorted clothes while chewing on a stick, waves overlapping at his ankles. "Whosa that?" She asked.

"Sora. Main Character. Age 14. As a teenager he has his share of concerns, but he manages to keep an upbeat attitude. He may seem simple-minded at times, but he has a strong sense of justice." Replied Rachelle, reading loudly from the character profiles. She coughed slightly in surprise a few seconds later. "…Alexis, did you know that this has Donald Duck and Goofy in it?"

Alexis nodded as she chose the game's difficulty. "Of course. They're on the cover. See?" She grinned cheekily at the twitching brunette, prodding the cover with a finger.

"And you do know," continued Rachelle, "That I practically _hate _those two?" Alexis nodded again, smiling guiltily this time.

"But I'm sure they wouldn't be that important!" She exclaimed, now clicking the X button as the screen asked her if her choices were okay.

"They're in the characters profiles," muttered Rachelle, glaring at the TV as Alexis shushed her. "And there's only six people on there!"

'_I've been having these weird thoughts lately,'_ the TV started, the words appearing and disappearing. _'Like, is any of this for real, or not?'_ Despite herself, Rachelle leaned forward alongside her bouncing friend as the opening theme came on, the Sora character looking as if he was falling in water. A catchy tune started, bringing the two girls into a happier mood as the screen flashed in then out.

'_You're giving me,'_ the song went, showing Sora now on a beach with luscious trees around him and wooden bridge behind him. A shot of a tall boy standing in the ocean, turning, then holding out his hand to Sora as a wave merged behind him sent Alexis squealing again and turning to her friend expectantly. "Whose _he?"_ She asked, putting extra emphasis on the 'he'.

Rachelle rolled her eyes, seeing the fangirl glint in the girl's eyes before reading from the booklet again. "Riku," she started, "Age 15. He may seem cool and collected for his age, but he is far from the quiet type. Always curious about the unknown, he begins to question the small, closed world in which he lives."

Alexis giggled happily. "Whoever he is gonna be, I'm already a fan." She hooted, striking her fist in the air. Turning her attention back to the game, she pouted as she found the opening over and a dark screen before her. "We missed it," she mumbled sadly. "And it was looking so cool, too."

Minutes went by.

The screen remained blank.

"Alexis, are you sure this is a legitimate game?" Rachelle asked uncertainly. Alexis scowled.

"Of course it is! I bought it at the local store at the mall, and it was under the 'unused' section!"

More minutes went by.

_You two._

"What?"

_Come._

A one-minute countdown appeared on the screen as the girls stared at it for a few seconds, dumbfounded, the furniture in the room slowly disappearing one by one. Regaining her senses for a few minutes while her friend still stared dumbly at the screen – her book bag clutched in her hands – Rachelle snatched up a piece of paper from the floor and using a gel-pen she was twirling in her fingers before Alexis came, she started a note.

_Michael…  
_

* * *

a/n: usual disclaimers apply. (please review; they really do keep an author going. Suggestions and constructive criticism is welcome.) 


	2. There Wasn't : Chapter One

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

There Wasn't... : Chapter One  
_(how do you know our names?)_

--

Darkness. Complete and utter darkness.

That was the first thing the two girls saw before realizing they were floating in air, they could see through themselves, and that an oddly-familiar boy with spiky brown hair wearing a red jumpsuit with a blue and white shirt stood on a glass panel below them.

"Rachelle, isn't that that Sora guy?" asked Alexis, pointing a half-transparent finger at the figure.

Rachelle blinked and frowned. "I think so…" she frowned again. "Argh, I can't see from here. We need to get closer—" She was cut off as air rushed by them, sending them towering just behind Sora. Gulping for breath from the unexpected fall, she cursed loudly.

'_So much to do… so little time…'_

"Hey!" cried Alexis, looking wildly around for the source of the voice. "It's that… voice… that brought us here!" She paused momentarily, thinking of what called them here. "A voice has to have a source…" she mumbled, tapping her chin with her forefinger.

Just then, three pillars erupted from the glass – which was a Snow White decorated floor – with a sword, a staff, and a shield held on them.

'_Choose wisely.'_

Rachelle's eyes immediately turned to the staff. Blocking out the image of the green and blue Disney-decorated staff, she imagined a three-foot high staff, richly decorated with rainbow-colored designs upon its handle and yellow orb at the top, orange spikes changing color behind it and she reached for it with her right hand—

Alexis's eyes, in turn, led her towards the sword. Reaching for it with her left hand, she could almost feel her fingertips grazing the smooth surface of the blue and diamond-embodied handle, its grey blade glinting sweetly – since when did a blade look like that? – as the light green designs on the blue and white grip flashed—

Sora's left hand reached towards the sword and his right towards the staff.

Both girls drew back their hands sharply as the brunette before them looked at his hands in confusion.

"What just happened?" Questioned Rachelle, still staring at the staff.

"…I wanted the sword…" Alexis turned to her companion.

"…And I wanted the staff." Continued Rachelle, looking back at her friend. "But why did that effect Sora?"

'_Is this the form you choose?'_

The voice interrupted them as the soon-to-be Keyblade bearer held the sword – Alexis cheered mentally – in his hands and nodded.

'_Now what will you give up in return?'_

He started towards the staff, but suddenly moved towards the shield and Rachelle's scowl was replaced by a smile.

'_Is this the form you give up?'_

Both girls grinned slightly, thinking seemingly the same thing. Looking at each other and nodding, they mentally counted to three – and erupted into the chicken dance, giggling as the boy in front of them flailed his arms around in a copy.

"What the…?" He murmured.

The girls' vision was clouded by darkness again, and they could feel themselves blanking out.

Ironically, the last thing they saw was Sora walking towards a door.

--

They awoke to find themselves in a white room with white walls, white ceiling, white floor, and a white chair standing right in the center of it all. Basically, 'white rooms' are not called white for nothing.

"O-kay…" mumbled Alexis, following her friend's example of standing up and putting a hand over her eyes to lesson the light.

'_Welcome.'_

The space in front of the chair suddenly rippled, as a figure appeared, smirking as his golden – not blonde, not yellow, but actually _gold _– hair fell slightly past his shoulders, his silver pants and hoodie matching his eyes. His smirk widened when he saw the blank looks on the girls' faces.

"Welcome!" He stated again triumphantly, lowering himself into the chair, looking like a king in his royal palace.

"…Voice." Said Rachelle, stating the obvious as 'Voice' sighed audibly.

"Yes, yes. Call me 'voice' if you'd like, but I'd prefer L.K."

Alexis raised her eyebrows. "LK? Isn't that kind of weird?" LK snorted.

"Whatever. Now, I summoned you here for one reason, and that is to lessen your confusions."

"You mean we'll know why we're here?" Piped up Rachelle, to which LK smirked again.

"No." The teenage girls' eyes lowered themselves. "But," LK continued, "I can tell you that you will be following what will be happening soon."

A silence followed. "What's gonna happen?" Asked Alexis, twirling her dirty blonde hair around her fingers. Rachelle's green eyes narrowed and she nodded.

"That, my dear girls, I cannot tell you." The smirk seemed to stretch to the length of the Cheshire Cat. "Good bye."

And, ironically again, the last thing that was in their vision was the same door from earlier.

--

"What the hell?" Murmured Alexis as she lazily sat up, noting the sand and the bended tree as her surroundings. Groaning, she ran her hand over her face, groaning again – and jumped.

"What!" She exclaimed, examining the light grey and blue, green-flower decorated glove. "Why would a glove, of all things, be so richly decorated?" She asked herself, examining the rest of her clothes, which thankfully didn't change too much.

She still wore her dark green jean-capris, though two pockets were added on the sides along with a brown belt. Her sandals were replaced with grey and green sneakers with light blue laces, and her top was now a light blue color as well – _what's with all this blue?_ she noted – with frilled sleeves and a sleeveless white hoodie, with many soft pink and some blue designs.

Alexis thought that the pink flowers on the hoodie resembled the designs on the sword she vaguely remembered, but quickly dismissed it, focusing more on the writing that was scribbled in a fancy script behind the flowers. Snorting when she couldn't understand any of it, she walked over to the edge of the little island-thing and stared out at the sea.

_Sea, sea, sea, sea…_

"Hey!"

The sea was now in front of her eyes as she unexpectedly fell, startled by the male voice calling out to her. Spluttering, she managed to get up, wincing as she felt the water drip down from her hair and down her back, silently thankful that she had something under her white hoodie.

She froze as she stared at the teen hovering over her, a slight smirk on his face. His aquamarine eyes sparkled lively, and his silver hair fell over his shoulders.

Alexis blinked.

"Heyyyy, I know you! You're that Riku guy!" She grinned and sat up, ignoring the boy's confused – and slightly suspicious – look.

"How do you know my name?" He asked, staring leeringly at her as she pulled herself up the ladder and bobbing up and down over the edge before steadying herself and standing up on dry land now, snatching her hair in a ponytail and squeezing the water out of it.

"You were with the Sora character in the intro," She explained, slightly oblivious to what she was saying.

Riku frowned. "…Intro? And how do you know Sora's name?" He narrowed his eyes and stepped towards the shorter girl threateningly. "Who are you?"

Alexis winced at the steely note in his voice, and for the first time, the thought and the fact that he was, in fact, quite well-practiced with a sword – a wooden one – crossed her mind.

"I'm, uhm…"

"Riku!" The two turned at the slightly childish voice, as Sora came running up—

—with Rachelle behind him; complete with new clothes as well. Instead of the sweatpants and t-shirt she had on at her house, she now wore pants that resembled her earlier ones though of different fabric and a maroon colour, white and yellow sneakers with orange laces, a light purple and white sleeves t-shirt that came to her thighs, and a dark blue long-sleeved jean jacket tied around her waist.

All in all, she resembled quite a rainbow.

"Rachelle!" Called out the blonde, secretly relieved of seeing her friend and the change of topic of which Riku had started. She ran forward to her as Sora rambled on.

"I found her – her name's Rachelle, she says – floating at the waterfalls! Maybe she's like Kairi; maybe she's…"

Rachelle frowned as her friend came over. "Any idea what we're doing here?" She hissed quietly, ignoring the boys' conversation.

Alexis shrugged. "That freaky guy in the white room – LK, wasn't it? – told us that we are to 'assist in what is coming up' or whatever." She paused at the look her friend was giving her.

"Alexis, what are you talking about?" Asked the brunette, glancing at her suspiciously. "There was no room… all that happened was us getting into the TV and the weapons…" She shook her head.

The other girl froze. "There…wasn't?"

"You two!" They turned as a cheerful Sora and a still suspicious Riku called out towards them. Smiling, they ran over back to the two.

"I already know Rachelle's name," started Sora. "But who are you?" Alexis laughed slightly.

"I'm Alexis," She grinned and stuck out her hand for Sora to shake it. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Her grin lessened slightly as she felt aquamarine eyes boring into her head. Determined to ignore him, she focused her eyes on Sora, who surprisingly noticed his friend's glare and started chiding him.

"Riku, don't glare at her like that. You always say it's rude to stare at people, and you're doing it yourself, too." He frowned. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Riku seemed to snap out of it suddenly, because he laughed and grinned. "Yeah, just fine. Don't know what happened there." He laughed again and turned to Alexis and Rachelle. "I'm Riku, by the way. The goof here is Sora." He dodged the half-hearted swipe that was sent his way from the brunette, accompanied by a glare.

"Where are you from?" Asked Sora, cheerful again. Rachelle raised her eyebrows slightly.

"My house," she stated, smirking slightly. Alexis snorted beside her and rolled her eyes.

"We're from _Canada_," she dragged out the word, as if it was something special. Sora's eyes widened and Riku's instead narrowed, barely noticeable.

"Do you mean you're from another world?" Asked the blue-eyed boy, his eyes glued to them. Alexis and Rachelle stared at him for a few seconds, then laughed.

"Another world? Do you mean we're on Mars?" Asked Alexis, grinning cheekily. Rachelle smiled and nodded beside her.

"We're from Earth, dummy. You're from Earth too—I think." She shrugged, looking thoughtful for a few seconds. "There hasn't been any other life discovered on the other planets, so unless you're an alien – which I kinda doubt – then you're on Earth, too. Where are we, anyways?" She ended her little scientific explanation by looking around curiously.

"You're on Destiny Islands," answered Riku, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you knew where you were? After all, you did say we were all on 'Earth'." He teased slightly.

Rachelle snorted and glared at him. "There are many places on Earth. And I just happen to have any idea where 'Destiny Islands' is, but it looks cool." She grinned and nudged Alexis beside her, to which her friend hit her slightly back. Both laughing, the smiled apologetically at the boys.

"Well," exclaimed Sora happily, "we should introduce you to everybody else! There's Kairi, Selphie, Tidus, Wakka…" He trailed off, thinking, as they started over the bridge, pointing out to two figures around the small island.

And throughout the whole time, Alexis swore there was a somebody with aquamarine eyes glaring at her.

* * *

a/n: another chapter done. Slightly, longer, I think. Hmm, who is this 'LK' person, and is he real or not? Was Alexis just imagining things, or did it really happen? What will happen with her little 'I know your name!' slip up to Riku, and will he ever stop being suspicious of her? –laughs- A little more Alexis-centered, the next chapter I'll try to do a Rachelle-based one. Ooh, and those gloves of Alexis might be a little important later, but you didn't hear it from me. ; ) Review, please! 


	3. Other Worlds : Chapter Two

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Other Worlds : Chapter Two  
_(don't worry, we can stay here for a little while)  
--_

**( Rachelle )**

"Kairi!"

Our heads – Alexis's and mine, I mean – turned at Sora's shout towards a maroon-haired girl standing before a wooden door – was she guarding it? – and fumbling with something in her fingers. At her name, though, she looked up and grinned happily, eyes flickering questioningly from Riku and Sora to us for a few seconds. I tugged unconsciously at the yellow chain bracelet that had come with my new outfit out of nervousness; meeting people, unfortunately, was not my best thing.

"Rachelle, Alexis, this is Kairi," Introduced Sora as Kairi smiled at us warmly.

"I'm Alexis, and this is Rachelle," Offered Alexis from beside me, her own grin matching Sora's. I smiled at the island-wear clad girl before us, as Sora again told her of how he found me, then found Riku with Alexis, blah blah blah…

Despite myself, I frowned. If you know me well, you'd know that I frown a lot. I was actually pretty much the opposite in personality from Alexis – she was naïve, I was serious. She refused to look at the dark side of things – how many times did her parents tell her that that would be her downfall? – while I preferred to know both sides of the universe. And Michael, well, he was kind of our 'in-between', I guess.

What _was _happening with Michael, anyway? I don't know whether he'd believe the note I left; if I were the one reading it, I wouldn't believe it as well. But we did break a promise, I guess, so he should take it seriously… right?

"So they say that they are from this place called 'Earth' and they say that we apparently live on that place as well, but I was thinking that maybe they are from another world…" Trailed off the brunette, ending his explanation.

And what was is with all this 'other world' business, too? I mean, I'm sure people would know if life on say, Mars or something, was discovered, with scientists being so proud and all.

"Maybe they're like Kairi," That was that Riku guy. Geez, he doesn't seem to like Alexis, with all the glaring and all. What did she do _now_? I snorted inside my head at the image of her rambling on indifferent things, not making any sense.

Yep, that sounded like her, all right.

"Though they apparently remember where they are from." He continued, to which Kairi turned to us curiously.

"You're from another world?"

I just managed to stop rolling my eyes. What he hell was it with people here and asking us if we were from 'another world'?

"…I guess you can say that." I looked at Alexis in surprise. Did she believe this stuff, too? I sighed. It was like her, though.

"Well, maybe, maybe not." That was me. Might as well go with this. "We can't really tell." …We _are _inside a video game, of all things, after all.

"Great!" Exclaimed Kairi. "Maybe you can help us with our raft—" She was cut off by Sora, who suddenly jumped in front of us happily, rambling again.

"—yeah, maybe you could! If you're from another world, you could help us make the raft and then you could sail with us! We want to sail out and find all the other worlds out there!" He grinned. "What do you think?"

I raised my eyes to the sky. They were planning to _sail _to 'other worlds'? The sea around us seemed to go on forever; how could they manage to survive?

I suddenly noticed that throughout this whole exchange, the silver-haired boy remained quiet.

"Yeah!" I groaned silently to myself at my friend's enthusiasm. "That sounds like fun." Alexis grinned – she's either ignoring or oblivious to Riku's glaring, I don't know which – "What do we have to do?"

Kairi paused for a few seconds, thinking. "Well, we need to make the raft bigger, so we need another four logs, instead of two. We still need cloth, and maybe another extra coil of rope – that makes two in total, I think." She smiled again. "That's all, I guess. If you guys need any hints, just ask me." She settled back into leaning again the door, and I guess that was our dismissal signal. Huh, I kinda feel like I'm in school again…

Anyways, we all decided to split up. I guess Riku wasn't participating since I noticed him sitting on that tree where we found Alexis, so Sora, Alexis and I had to do it all ourselves. The first three logs were easy to find, because they were located right in our way under the bridge and all throughout the beach. The cloth, Sora said, was inside the tree house, so he decided to run and get it.

That left Alexis and me, obviously.

"So," she started happily. "How about you try to find the rope, and I'll search for the last log?" I laughed slightly.

"Too lazy to find the rope yourself?" I teased, to which she stuck her tongue out at me.

"You guessed it. Bye!" Waving merrily, she skipped off in the direction of the little shack that stood behind us. Shaking my head again, I went in the direction that Sora went by earlier.

"You're new here, ya?" I turned suddenly at the voice. A teenager with orange hair, a white muscle-shirt and some pants stood leaning against the rock-wall, a ball under his head, looking at me curiously. He he, he had a weird accent.

"Yeah. I'm Rachelle. I got here with my friend, Alexis." I motioned with my head towards the shack, which Alexis had gone to. The boy nodded.

"I'm Wakka." He introduced himself, nodding again in my direction. Suddenly taking the blue and white ball from under his head, he held it out to me. "Ya know how to duel?"

I blinked and shook my head. Why would I need to know how to duel? I mean, martial arts and stuff were useful if you were, say, attacked or something, but walking around with a sword? …Wait, I remember Michael doing that. Nevermind.

Wakka shook his head. "Ya should see Tidus if ya want to learn, ya." He leaned back against the wall again, closing his eyes and relaxing.

"Uh, okay. Thanks…" I mumbled, scanning the island with my eyes. There was only a girl with flippy brown hair sitting on the pier, and I think Tidus was a boy—wait, there was a ladder leading up to a railing, wounding around a tree and leading to somewhere. I'll bet this Tidus was somewhere over there!

Running as quickly as I could in the sand — my feet kept sinking — I rushed over and up the ladder, wincing as I stood on the creaking wooden panels. Sheesh, someone could kill themselves with these. Making my way over them, I found myself on a little deck with a blonde-haired boy, Tidus, I guess, swinging a wooden stick at imaginary enemies.

Seeing that the battle cries he was making could mask my footsteps, I walked over to the rope that was sitting innocently at the far corner – hah, just like it was waiting for me – noticing the rope swinging in the wind beside me as well. Hmm, maybe I could use it.

"Hey!" I turned again. Uh, I seem to be doing this a lot today, ha ha. Anyways, the boy noticed me and was now pointing his red pole-stick dangerously close.

"Uh… hi?" I said meekly, blinking stupidly. Visibly relaxing, the boy lowered his stick.

"Who're you?"

"I'm Rachelle." I smiled what I hoped was friendly. "I got her with my friend Alexis." Déjà vu much?

"I'm Tidus." The boy introduced. I nodded.

"I know. Wakka told me to come see you if I wanted to learn how do to duel." I shrugged and picked up the coil of rope on the floor before turning back to him and nodding towards the other rope strung across two poles. "Do you, uh, mind if I take that for something?"

Tidus raised and lowered one shoulder in answer. "Sure, whatever. Say," he paused for effect, his eyes glinting suddenly. "Do you _want_ to learn how to duel? Cause since I just got this new baby," he tapped his red stick against his shin for emphasis, "I have my old sword, still, that I don't need."

I blinked at him and frowned. "Well, uh—"

"Great!" He interrupted, grabbing a wooden sword that was previously leaning against one of the walls and sticking it in my hands. "First thing you need to work on is your balance."

**( Alexis )**

I groaned pathetically to myself. I searched almost everywhere I could think of for the log, and the thing _still wasn't there_. Mumbling dejectedly to myself as I rose from the pier where my new-found friend Selphie was sitting and staring dreamily of into space, I waved half-heartily to her before jumping into the ankle-length water and making my way back to the shack, in which I surprisingly found a white circle on the floor which made me feel all bubbly and happy and warm inside when I stepped into it.

Raising my eyes to the little island a little ways off into the ocean that was the _only _place where I haven't actually looked for thoroughly, and truthfully, I didn't want to. And why, you may ask?

Well, glaring silver-haired people with wooden swords strapped to their waists who have a thing against me aren't my cup of hot chocolate. Okay, Riku was hot, I admit, but I'd rather admire him from a far, thank you very much.

So after sitting relaxingly in the white circle for a few minutes while my clothes miraculously dried off to a point where I didn't have to cringe every time I moved, I ran up the stairs and opened the annoyingly-creaky door and walked over the bridge for the second time in my life – somehow, I kind of doubted I'd be able to walk on it safely again, I swear the boards will break soon – and thankfully spotted a log lying innocently _right _by the tree where Riku was sitting on.

Groaning quietly to myself and hoping that by some miracle he wouldn't talk to me, I walked and picked up the log.

And as usual, my luck backstabbed me in the back for the millionth time in my life.

"Yo."

O-kay, weird way to start a conversation. Nonetheless, I turned to him and smiled. "Hello. How are you?"

Riku gave me a weird look before shrugging and narrowing his eyes. "Fine." He looked back at the sea and silence decided to pay a visit again.

Just as I was about to leave after minutes of nervous fidgeting, he decided to speak up. "Are there really other worlds out there? If so, why did you, your friend, Kairi, Sora and I end up one this one?"

I blinked and turned to him suddenly, feeling serious all of a sudden. "There might be other places out there. And, maybe… maybe people are not meant to know about them." I shrugged and sighed, mumbling quietly. "After all, we did get sucked into a video game."

Riku's head turned sharply to me – damn, he had good hearing. "What?" He hissed quietly. I winced and laughed sheepishly, backing away from him.

"Ah, ha, nothing, nothing at all! If you don't mind, I have to go, get this back to Kairi, you know—"

"Not until you duel me." My head swirled to face him as I stared, open-mouthed.

"Whadya mean 'duel you'? I don't know how to duel!" I exclaimed. Riku smirked.

"I'll teach you, then. And if you can beat me – which I doubt you will – I'll leave you alone. If I beat you, on the other hand…well, you'll just have to tell me everything."

Groaning, I put down the log and crossed my arms stubbornly. "But I don't have a sword or anything!" Riku shrugged and threw me a roughly done wooden sword.

"Use Sora's. I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

**( Normal POV )**  
_Destiny Islands, twenty minutes before sundown_

"Ow…" mumbled Rachelle, wincing as her foot contacted with the ladder-stair. Grumbling to herself, she limped towards the sea line where Alexis was waiting with a log clutched under her hand, muttering as she rubbed her thigh.

"I officially _hate _dueling and wooden swords," she growled and Rachelle smiled humorously as she dumped the ropes she was carrying in the sand before sitting down herself.

"There's a circle-thingy in the shack that'll make you feel better," offered Alexis, balancing the log from one hand to another. "I think it was supposed to be a 'Save Point' in the game." Shrugging, she cursed quietly again before starting off towards the place where Kairi was _still _waiting. "Sora came by earlier, by the way. He should be with Kairi." Waving slightly, she left.

Sighing to herself, Rachelle blew some stray brown bangs from her forehead and tightened the jean jacket around herself, noting that it was getting cold. "Figures," she mumbled. "The sun's almost down." She paused. "…Where are we gonna stay, anyways?"

Standing up quickly and rushing to what her friend thought was a Save Point in the shack, she waited for a few minutes in bliss as her pains lessened. _That's what you get for trying to learn sword fighting, _she thought wryly. The lesson didn't bode well with her, and the staff from before crossed her mind briefly and she sighed. _I still choose magic. Maybe that's why swords didn't appeal to me much when I dueled Tidus…_Figuring that her friend got herself into a duel just like she did, se let go of the thought of how she came into contact with so much paint in the first place.

Shrugging, she exited the shack again with each coil of rope swung over her shoulders and whistling a happy tune, she made her way to catch up with Alexis.

"Where are you going to stay, though?" She heard Kairi ask, mentally patting her on the back for thinking the same thing as she was. She approached just as Alexis shrugged.

"We could stay on the island for a few days until we think of an idea," Offered Rachelle, dumping the ropes alongside the other supplies.

"But where would you stay exactly?" Asked Sora, emerging from behind the door and dusting off his hands. Alexis thought for a few seconds.

"We could stay in the shack or in the tree house for a couple of days," She said, putting her hands in the pockets of her capris. "I'm sure there is plenty of food to find around here." She motioned towards some berry-bushes growing nearby by the wall. "And we know how to make a fire," she continued, shrugging. "It'll be no biggie, right Rachie?"

Rachelle shrugged as well, stretching her hands above her head. "Sure. Doesn't really matter to me. And you could always bring us some food." She grinned at the two as Riku jumped down from the bridge, walking calmly over to them.

"Planning to camp overnight here?" He asked. Kairi nodded and smiled.

"Yeah. They say they can stay here until we can find them somewhere to live at the Main Islands." Alexis blinked and frowned.

"There are other islands here?" Riku laughed and smirked at her.

"Of course there are. Do you really think we'd be able to live here like this?" His smirked lengthened. "And don't forget about our duel the day after tomorrow. You have one day to practice."

The blonde groaned and glared at him, mumbling something out of the corner of her mouth. She was just about to say something when Kairi suddenly pointed to the sky and cried in joy.

"The sun's going down now! It's your first sunset here, right? You have to see it! Come on!" Grinning, she ran around to the shack and up the stairs, waving on the bridge by the time the four kids below managed to just get to the other side. Laughing, they rushed up the stairs after her and onto the little island with the bended tree.

"What is that thing, anyway?" Asked Rachelle as she sat cross-legged beside Alexis as she settled down in front of the tree, Riku standing a few ways beside her and Kairi and Sora on the tree itself, swinging their legs in happiness.

"This is the Paopu Tree!" Exclaimed the redhead happily.

"Paopu?" Questioned Alexis, her eyes trailing to look above her.

"You've never heard the legend of the Paopu Fruit?" Asked Kairi, and after both girls shook their heads, continued explaining. "It's said that when two people share one, their destinies become intertwined." She giggled girlishly and sighed. "Doesn't that sound romantic?"

Rachelle shrugged and turned back to watching the sun. "I guess." Alexis shrugged beside her, doing the same.

"So…" started Sora, looking down at the girls questioningly. "Kairi's and yours homes are out there…right?"

"Could be," answered Riku carelessly. "We'll never know by staying here."

Sora frowned and leaned to look at his friend. "But how far could a raft take us?"

Alexis raised her shoulders and lowered them, twirling her hair around her fingers just as the silver-haired teen was about to say something. "Who knows."

"If we have to, we'll think of something else." Continued Riku for her. Rachelle rolled her eyes and sighed.

"So… suppose you get to another world." She snorted slightly, to show her thoughts on the topic. "What would you do there?"

Riku frowned in thought. "Well," he started, trailing off between words. "I haven't really thought of it." He paused. "It's just, I've always wondered why we're here, on this island—"

"If there are other worlds out there, why did you end up on this one?" Interrupted Alexis, remembering his sentence from earlier. "Right?"

The boy nodded before continuing. "And suppose there are other worlds out there; then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So, we could have just as easily ended up on somewhere else, right?" He turned his head to his companions.

"But you ended up on this one," stated Rachelle.

It was Sora who spoke next. "I don't know." He said, lying down on the tree with his hands behind his head and stared at the sky. Riku nodded.

"Exactly. That's why we need to go out there and find out." He stood up and walked forward, standing on the edge of the land now. "Just sitting here wouldn't change a thing. It's the same old stuff—so let's go."

"You've been thinking a lot about this lately, haven't you?" Asked Alexis as Kairi nodded, both looking at the teen. He turned and smiled.

"Thanks to Kairi. If she hadn't come here – and now you two – I would have probably never thought of this." He smiled again and Sora turned to look at the ocean. "Kairi, thanks."

She smiled nervously. "Heh, you're welcome."

Rachelle smiled suddenly. "Well, it's getting late now. I think you guys should get back now, and Alexis and I need to get ready as well." She paused slightly and leered at the trio. "There aren't any dangerous animals here, right?" They laughed and shook their heads.

Kairi, Alexis and Rachelle chatted happily as they walked down from the little island, the boys following behind them.

"Sora!" Riku called once the girls entered the shack, out of earshot. He threw a star-shaped fruit to the brunette boy as he turned. "You wanted one, didn't you." Stated Riku, pointing slightly towards the fruit.

"A Paopu Fruit?" Asked Sora confusedly. Riku smirked and began walking towards the shack.

"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined—they'll remain a part of each other's lives, no matter what." He smirked in good humor again. "Come on, I know you wanna try it."

Sora frowned and turned to his friend. "What are you talk—" he started, interrupted by Riku's laughter. Throwing the star-shaped fruit into the water over the bridge, he shook his head and raced after the silver-haired teen, running to catch up to the girls, who in turn, turned to face them.

"Well, we'll see you guys in the morning!" Exclaimed Alexis, dragging her brunette friend and waving as the trio got into their boats. "We'll try to think of something for a longer term-stay, okay?" She grinned when she received their nods of confirmation. "Great! Good night!" She waved cheerily to them, turning to face Rachelle afterwards.

"Now, where is more comfortable? Tree-house, or shack?" Rachelle frowned and shrugged.

"Let's try the shack first. After all, there is that Save Point there. If it's not good there, we can always move to the tree house. And if that's not good either…" She trailed off, shrugging again and smiling. "Well, like you said, we'll think of that road when we get there."

* * *

a/n: ooh. Nine pages. Longest I've ever done, I think. Please read and review. : ) 


	4. Departure : Chapter Three

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Departure : Chapter Three  
_(how could we have not noticed the storm!?)_  
--

"Rachie… your brother's flashing the flashlight in my eyes again… Rachie?"

Alexis blinked and sat up, shielding her eyes from the sunlight pouring in from the entrance to the tree house. Groaning when she realized her best friend was not there, she grudgingly trudged out of the little room and down the wooden boards, side-stepping the extra-creaky parts.

"Rachelle!" She whined playfully, scanning the beach in search of the brunette girl. Huffing, she stood in front of the shack now, thinking of where her friend could have gone. The island wasn't that big, and there didn't seem to be many places to hide in, either.

"Alexis!" She turned at Rachelle's sudden voice before realizing she had no idea where it came from. Frowning, she called back.

"Rachelle? Where are you?" Laughter nearby from her right brought her to a crack under one of the two trees and on her knees as she crawled into it. Standing up in the tight space, she made her way for a few seconds, exclaiming when she found herself in a rather large circular space, sunlight and fresh air pouring in from a hole in the ceiling. Many carvings covered almost every part of the surface, some covered by large roots.

"BOO!" She yelled when she felt something poke her, whirling around to glower at a giggling Rachelle. Slowly her scowl was replaced by a smile, as she laughed along with the brunette, finally calming to look around the cave in wonder.

"What is this place?" The blonde asked, her fingers sliding over a childish drawing.

Rachelle shrugged behind her. "I'm guessing this is a place for some of the island kids, and judging by all these drawings, I think they've known it for a really long time." She giggled at a nearby drawing of a duck. "That one looks like Donald Duck, don't you think? And that one looks like those Chocobo characters." She leered at the walls. "But how do they know all this? …and what's that door?"

"Know what?"

They both turned at the sound of the amused voice where Riku stood, crossing his arms. He waved his hand around the room. "This is our Secret Place. How did you find it?"

Alexis prodded Rachelle beside her. "She found it, ask her." The girl batted her friend's finger away, staring at Riku.

"I went out exploring. It's not that hard to find, y'know." The silver-haired teen shrugged and went to exit through the tunnel.

"Whatever. Kairi is on the other side of the island and Sora will be getting here soon, so I suggest you guys follow me if you want to help with the raft." The two girls shrugged and followed him out, shielding their eyes from the sudden light. Walking back to the door where Kairi stood earlier, Riku pushed it open, motioning for them to follow.

"Go see Kairi," he said, pointing behind a few rocks. "She should have some stuff for you to do." He crossed his arms again and leaned back against the wall just as Sora came rushing in.

"Riku!" He called before spotting Alexis and Rachelle, greeting them. The two were just about to leave when Kairi came walking over, juggling too many coconuts for her own good. Laughing in good humor at the girl's agitated expression, Rachelle went over to take a few of them away from her.

"Say, Sora, we still need a name for the raft." Started Riku, looking at the boy beside him out of the corner of his eyes. Alexis perked up at the conversation, completely forgetting about even giving the raft a name. "I was thinking of naming it Highwind," he continued. "How about you?"

Sora frowned for a few seconds. "Me? Well, uh… how about Excalibur?" Riku shrugged and smirked.

"The usual?" Sora nodded and grinned.

"If I win," he said, "I get to be captain. If you win…"

"I get to share the Paopu with Kairi." He ignored the other boy's awestruck face. "Deal? Winner gets to share a Paopu with Kairi." Alexis noted the brunette's stuttering with some amusement; it seemed that both had a thing for the maroon-haired girl.

"You two at it again?" Called Kairi from where she was with Rachelle, setting down the coconuts and jumping across the bridge. "Okay, I'll count! Take any route you want!" She smiled as she waited for the boys to get into position.

"They do this often?" Asked Rachelle, coming over to stand beside the two girls. Kairi nodded.

"Yeah, they do this to settle almost everything," she giggled slightly. "It's kind of funny… Okay, ready? 3, 2, 1!"

They watched as the two teens shot off, jumping over the breaks in the wooden obstacle – Sora almost went catapulting to the water when some boards broke off – down some stairs, over the water where the raft resigned, up to jump over some ledges and to a star shaped tree, before running back. Sora's face was set in a determined expression and quite red, while Riku's held more amusement over determination. That was, until, Sora got farther ahead of him; that set his face in a somewhat blank façade as he tried to catch up.

Sora won after all, with much puffing and a somewhat rude comment from Riku, who went to stand back at his spot. "You must have really wanted that Paopu with Kairi," whispered Alexis teasingly to the brunette boy, laughing as he tried to swipe at her and running to follow Rachelle to where Kairi stood, twirling something in her fingers.

"Oh, this?" She asked when Rachelle inquired about it. "It's a charm made of thalessa shells. Sailors used to wear them for good luck when they set out to sail," Putting it away, she smiled at the girls in front of her as Sora came running up behind them.

"Okay," she started enthusiastically, "There can't be a journey without food and water, so… Sora, you need to find six mushrooms, and fill these water battles with fresh water – not from the ocean," she handed him two bottles, shooing him off playfully and giving her other orders. "Alexis, Rachelle, you have to find four coconuts – the yellow ones, please – one seagull egg, and three fish." The two nodded and walked over to the nearby palm trees, looking up at its length.

"So… how are we gonna get them down?" Asked Rachelle, trying to find yellow amongst the brown.

"We could try hitting the tree," suggested Alexis, nodding towards her friend's sword strapped to her waist and taking out her own. "We need some target practice, anyways." She joked, swinging the weapon in an arc and barely grazing the tree. "Okay, we need a lot of practice," she mumbled, ignoring her friend's laughter.

It took them several minutes to get the hang of hitting the tree before they could actually hit it hard enough to have coconuts fall down, and it took another ten or so to find the yellow ones.

"How are we going to be able to duel if we can't even hit a stinking tree?" Whined Rachelle, rubbing the spot where a coconut had just hit her head. Alexis shrugged beside her, hitting a nearby tree and picking up the coconut that fell down.

"That makes four!" She cried in over-exaggerated joy, balancing them in her arms and walking over to the raft with Kairi. "Now, where can we find a seagull egg?"

Rachelle frowned from beside her, taking two of the coconuts for good measure from her friend. "There are a lot of trees here. My guess is that it's somewhere on one of them." She paused to put down the coconuts beside the raft they were to set out on tomorrow. "Since we've hit most of the trees here, I don't think there are any eggs. So, that leaves the other side of the island, right?"

Alexis nodded and dusted off her hands on her capris. "I think there's one on that little tree right outside the top level of the shack—Rachie, watch out for the boards." She smiled slightly as her friend plunged into the water before jumping over and walking to the other side, where a slightly dripping Rachelle groaned.

"I still don't understand how you can fall from there and not break anything," she said, pushing open the door. Alexis followed behind her, shrugging.

"We're in a video game, remember? Stuff like that doesn't cause too much damage." Rachelle rolled her eyes as they walked towards shack.

"You hafta keep quiet on that, Lexi. Just what would people think if you told them that?" Noticing her friend's sudden guilty look, she groaned humorously. "Who did you tell?"

"Riku," muttered the blonde, pushing open the wooden door. "But I didn't exactly tell him that. All I said that he was, and I quote, 'with that Sora character from the intro'." She raised her eyebrows when her companion laughed.

"That explains the glares," Rachelle giggled as they trudged up the stairs. "I'd glare at someone like that, too, if they said something as weird as that." Alexis rolled her eyes.

"The glares are getting annoying," she complained. "Okay, I get the point: he doesn't like me. But does he have to make it so uncomfortable?" She sighed once they were back in the sunlight again. "I don't know if I'm such a fangirl anymore."

Rachelle snorted from beside her, elbowing her friend slightly. "You only liked him in the first place because you thought he looked hot." Alexis smiled.

"I still do. Now, how do we get that egg down?" She asked, pointing to the huge egg that rested right in the center of the palm tree.

"We can try, oh, I don't know, maybe climbing it?" Replied the brunette sarcastically, already standing beside the trunk and starting her slow climb up. She groaned after a few minutes. "I can't get the egg from here; the leaves are like made of cement or whatever. I can't move them." She slid down grudgingly, glaring up at the tree once she was on land again.

"There's another tree right there," pointed out Alexis. "Maybe you could climb that and jump from there to get the egg."

Rachelle gave her a skeptic look. "Why don't you climb it?" The girl rolled her eyes.

"Afraid of heights, remember? I couldn't even climb the rope in gym."

"But you're all the way up here, and this is high!" Exclaimed Rachelle, looking over the edge towards the sand. Alexis shifted her weight from one foot to another.

"Well, anything higher than this will set me staring and screaming." She laughed nervously. "Like that one time at that mountain school trip, remember?" They both laughed at the mention.

"I doubt the teacher will make you go on a bridge like that ever again," joked Rachelle, starting to climb the second tree. Her friend shrugged.

"I made a complete fool of myself, though. I actually never knew I could yell so loud."

After a few minutes (and roughly ten tries from Rachelle to get the egg) the item was now held preciously in their hands as the two girls hurried to get it back to Kairi before the mother came back.

"I feel bad for the mother-bird," mumbled Rachelle, staring at the egg held in Alexis's hands.

"Same, but we need it, apparently. Though how are we gonna cook it?" She scrunched up her nose. "We better not be eating it raw." They both sighed just as Sora came running out of the Secret Place, looking slightly disturbed.

"Sora?" Called out the blonde of the two, noting his slightly crazed look with some worry. He suddenly turned towards them and shook his head.

"It's nothing!" He called, smiling sheepishly. Waving slightly, he ran back to where Kairi was, the two girls following him more slowly.

"What's up with him?" Asked Rachelle, shifting the egg which was now in her hands. Alexis shrugged from beside her.

"Dunno. He doesn't look that well." She opened the door, almost bumping into Riku who frowned at her slightly before leaving to stand at his spot again, staring out into the ocean. Both girls rolled their eyes and walked over the water – it was kind if hard jumping with the egg in their hands – to the raft, setting the egg down gently in the sand.

"Great!" Said Kairi happily. "Sora has all the stuff ready, so all we need are the fish!"

Searching in the waters at their current side of the island proved to be fruitless, so the two went back to the other part yet again.

"You know," suddenly started Alexis, "I'm pretty sure they didn't tell any of the other kids here about their raft." Rachelle frowned and sighed.

"I guess they didn't. Even though they're friends with them, it was kind of mean." Alexis nodded beside her, waddling into the water after pulling off her shoes and socks.

"We need three fish, right?" She asked, observing the little silver flashes in the water. Groaning when her friend nodded yes, she dodged to get the nearest one, only to have it shy away from her hands.

"This is going to be a long task," she mumbled to herself after managing to catch the first one, whimpering as she placed it into a basket they brought on the sand. Rachelle came up from beside her and placed the second fish in.

After another ten minutes of trying to catch the last fish – they swore it was the only one left swimming, for some reason – they walked towards the Save Point to dry off.

"What's a Save Point doing here, anyways?" Asked Rachelle as she shook her hair, sending water droplets everywhere. "I mean, why is it here? This doesn't seem like a game anymore."

Alexis stayed silent from beside her, picking up the basket and exiting the shack.

"You know, Riku has changed."

The two perked up at the sound of Kairi's voice. Noticing that she and Sora were sitting on the pier together watching the sunset – "It's this late already?" Exclaimed Rachelle – they walked a little closer to them, thinking of giving Kairi the fish.

"What do you mean?" Asked Sora lazily. Alexis and Rachelle smiled at each other when they noticed that the two seemed quite happy to be together, deciding to leave them alone.

"Well, hmm…"

"You okay?"

"Sora! Let's take the raft and go, just the two of us!" The girls raised their eyebrows, freezing for a little while to keep on listening.

"Huh?"

Kairi laughed. "Just kidding!" Sora laughed slightly.

"What's gotten into you? You're the one that's changed, Kairi."

"Maybe." Kairi paused sadly. "You know, I was a little afraid at first. But, now I'm ready. No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here." She turned to brunette. "Right?"

Sora nodded happily. "Yeah, of course."

Kairi smiled and turned back to the ocean. "That's good." She paused again. "Sora, don't ever change." Suddenly standing up, she ignored the boy's 'huh?' "I just can't wait," she continued dreamily. "Once we set sail. It will be great."

Rachelle and Alexis smiled as they walked away from the two. "They are so made for each other—OH!" Started Alexis, only to trip over something in the sand, almost sending the fish and basket sprawling.

"What's this?" Asked Rachelle, poking the item. Alexis frowned.

"I think that's my backpack!" She exclaimed, putting down the basket and running to pick it up. "That's right; I was holding it when we got here. But why did it show up now? …and what's all this stuff?" She frowned again as she dug through the bag. Out came several Potions, two Hi-Potions, and a chain.

"'Potion'?" Rachelle asked, reading one of the labels. "Hi-Potion? Protect Chain?" Alexis snatched the chain from her friend's hand, examining it. It really didn't look all that special; she shrugged and wound it around her wrist.

"Might come in useful sometime," she said, gathering all the stuff back into her pack. "All of this might. Though I'm curious as to where my _actual _stuff went." She paused as Rachelle picked up the basket with the fish, seeing as how her friend now had the backpack to hold. "I hope it wasn't thrown out or anything – cause some really cool stuff was in there!"

Rachelle rolled her eyes and opened the door for what seemed like the millionth time that day. "Dunno." Walking over to the raft, she placed the basket beside all their other supplies.

"Alexis and Rachelle:"

She turned at her friend's voice, eyebrows raised when she noticed the note in her hands. Alexis continued.

"Sorry we couldn't directly say good-bye; we had to leave fast and we couldn't find you guys. We brought you some food earlier and it should be on the raft. Hope you have a good night! –Kairi."

The blonde shrugged and tucked the note into her pocket. "Oh well. At least we have some food." She grinned as she spotted the wrapped package lying beside the mast. Going over to it, she opened in and smiled again.

"Ham sandwiches and juice! Awesome!" Grabbing one of said sandwiches and a juice box, she sat down relaxingly and began eating. Her friend joined her a few seconds later, both watching the waves becoming higher and higher—

"Wait, Rachie, don't waves become high when there's a storm coming?" Mumbled Alexis, her juice box frozen in her hand.

"…Damn." Cursed Rachelle from beside her, quickly wrapping up the rest of the food and rushing back to the tree house – no, shack. It was dangerous in the tree now. "How could we not have noticed it?"

"I don't know!" Cried Alexis from behind her, wrapping her hair in a ponytail to keep it from blowing into her face from the wind. She sighed happily when she finally spotted the door leading to the other part of the island.

"Come on!" Cried Rachelle, throwing it open and rushing out.

Alexis cursed when it slammed from the force of the wind right before her nose, prying it open with her fingers. "Damn it!" She cried when she couldn't open it. Growling, she tried ramming into it with her shoulder – only to find that something was holding her back. Looking around wildly, she screamed when she noticed the black tentacles coming from the black pool of _something _underneath her, first traveling up her legs then up her torso and finally to her mouth, covering it before she could scream again.

The last thing she saw before darkness overtook her vision was a glowing ball hanging in the center of the sky.

--

"Alexis, we have to do get to the shack …Alexis?" Rachelle turned wildly when her friend didn't reply, her eyes widening when she noticed the blonde wasn't there. Instead, black ant-like _things _with glowing yellow oval eyes were forming out of the ground, their antennas moving around frantically.

Cursing, the brunette reached for her wooden sword and swung around wildly, cursing again when it didn't do any damage to them. Instead, the things scratched at her wildly, leaving marks – thankfully no blood – everywhere. Throwing the sword to the ground, she ran at break-neck speed to the shack, throwing open the door—

"Rachelle?"

She stared at the frozen spiky-haired boy for a few seconds before groaning and collapsing by the Save Point.

"Where's Alexis?" Sora asked, looking at her in confusion.

"…I don't know." Mumbled the girl, looking dejectedly at her hands. "We were running for here when we saw the storm coming, but after we went through the door that led here, she was just gone." She paused for breath. "And then these things came up, and when I tried attacking them with my sword, nothing happened…" She sighed again.

"Alexis had my sword, so I doubt it would help her…" Started Sora, interrupted by Rachelle's glare.

"Are Riku and Kairi here?" She asked quietly, tugging at her bracelet in anxiety.

Sora nodded. "Their boats are here, so they should be here somewhere—I mean, I saw Riku at his usual island, but Kairi…" He visibly saddened at the mention of his other friend. Shaking his head suddenly, he started towards the stairs. "Come on, we should go see Riku. Maybe he knows what's going on."

Rachelle shrugged from behind him, slightly doubting it. Never less, she followed the spunky teen up as he threw open the door and trudged over the now-wildly cricketing bridge, jumping over the shadows with the yellow eyes that formed with every step he took.

"The door has opened."

Never before had Rachelle disliked the silver-haired teen's voice so much.

* * *

a/n: ooh. Cliffhanger? ; ) I have school tomorrow, so this is my last update for today. Phooey. Hopefully, I'll have a rough copy of the next chapter written in my notebook. Thank you to my two reviewers, KH meerkats and angelofdarknessfire as well. Review, please! 


	5. Arrival : Chapter Four

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Arrival : Chapter Four _  
(do you accept it? their gift from them to you)_

**( Alexis )**

I groaned and felt around for my wooden weapon. Groaning again when I found it nowhere near, I sat up on my knees and tugged at my hair slightly to get any dirt or dust that may have settled there out. After that was done, I dusted off my gloves on my capris and looked around me.

I screamed.

Okay, I didn't exactly scream, it was more like a startled yell. You see, I just found myself in the middle of a floating _icicle_, more of them all around me. A castle was somewhere off in the distance, a great big huge chunk of air or something separating me from it. There were icicles above me as well, going and down, up and down, up and down…

…waiiit. If they were going up and down, that meant, of course, that there was almost nothing _underneath _them.

_How high up are we?_

Gathering my practically scattered courage into a great big ball inside my mind, I looked over the edge—

—and scrambled back to the center, eyes promptly wide behind my glasses. How did they manage to stay during all of this, anyways? Oh well. Back to more pressing matters.

There was no way I was staying here, with waterfalls – I just noticed them, too – and water below me. Haha, this was _not _my kind of thing. Soooo, I did the only reasonable thing – you see, trying to jump over the platforms higher was bad because a) heights, hello!? and b) they were meters apart.

Ugh.

I fainted. Let's leave someone else to find me, all right? I'm certain I'll wake up when I'm hungry or dying.

**( Rachelle )**

I stared at the silver-haired teen before me, my hair flying up in a mess in the storm.

"…The door has opened, Sora. Now we can go to the outside world!" He said in excitement, turning to face us. Jeez, thanks a lot for ignoring me, Riku.

"What are you talking about?" Cried Sora. "We've gotta find Kairi—"

"Kairi's coming with us!" Interrupted the other teen, his hands curling into fists. "Once we step through, we might not be able to come back," he continued, now looking longingly at the glowing ball of energy above us. "We may never see our parents again… there's no turning back." Sudden determination took over his voice. "But this may be our only chance; we can't let fear stop us. I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

Sora frowned from beside me as his best friend held out his right hand to him, darkness pooling at his feet. "Riku…" he mumbled, suddenly running over only to be stopped by another pool of darkness by his feet, inches away from the silver haired teen's hand. Watching him struggle against it, I stared frozen, not knowing what to do. Tentacles wrapped suddenly around my body, forcing me down to the ground.

Swinging my hands pitifully in hopes of getting it off of me, I noticed for a few seconds that the boys in front of me were just _disappearing_, while I still stood there. Sora reached for the boy's hand one more time—

—and I couldn't see him, or Riku anymore. They were both just completely… gone.

"Sora! Riku!" I cried out just before a tentacle wrapped around my own eyes and mouth, and I felt myself falling down.

_Where am I? Why is it so dark here? …Am I dead?_

A flash of orange light and I stood back on the little island, my bracelet glowing in front of me. "Huh?" I muttered, reaching slowly for it. I cried out in pain as my fingers touched it, sending bolts of pain through my body.

_Do you accept this?_

"What!?" I cried out again in between my screams, trying to take my fingers away from the metal but failing.

_Their gift from them to you… Do you accept it?_

I screamed as another wave of pain hit me. "I accept it! Just make the pain stop!" Tears ran from my closed eyelids and I could feel my nose being stuffy, but the pain thankfully stopped.

_Use it wisely._

I snatched my hand back from the bracelet as it fell quite suddenly to the sand, glowing dimly. After a few seconds a metal staff with orange vines of a sort curling around it and a spiked sun at the end rested softly on the ground, much to my amazement. Reaching for it again and tensing for just a few seconds, I felt only a cold vibe go through my body then nothing.

Another flash accompanied by the sound of many locks being opened behind me, I whirled with my new weapon clutched tightly in my hands in the position of a sword, but only Sora stood there looking in wonder at the giant gold and silver key in his hands.

'_Keyblade…'_

The sudden voice was echoed by many different others, all rising and lowering as if said by numerous people.

"Key…blade?" I heard myself whisper quietly, eyes gliding over the shining metal and back to the handle, growling slightly at the Mickey Mouse key chain. _Figures._

"Behind you!" I stood as I watched Sora slicing through the bug-like shadow creatures, staff held loosely in my hands. Fingering the little sun at the top, I decided to try something. The main colors were, after all, red and orange, so…

"…Fire." Oops. I'm pretty sure that little flame was not supposed to hit that palm tree. Sighing to myself, I stuck my right hand with the staff pointing towards one of the nearby monster things.

"Fire." Wee. I watched as it combusted into flames before disappearing into the ground, leaving nothing behind. Did that mean I killed it? Ooh, I hope so. Cause there were many of them coming towards me, and Sora – I should hurt him sometime later for doing this – was running to the Secret Place where – what the hell? What were two doors doing there?

Setting some of the nearby creatures aflame, I ran after him. "Sora!" I called, jumping over the monsters. "Wait—OOMP!" I groaned to myself as my foot catapulted through the boards of the bridge, sending me tottering over the edge dangerously and into a pool of darkness.

Great, juuuust great.

**( Alexis )**

"…You idiot; you got the wrong one!"

"How was I supposed to know which one it was?"

"You have eyes, don't you!? Use them!"

_Muted whispering? What? _

I raised my head slowly, and for the second time, found myself in the center of the icicles again. Rubbing my scalp from where it hit the stone, I looked around. _Where did those voices coming from? _As far as I could see, there were no people—waiiiit a sec. There was a person lying close to me. Blue pants, yellow shirt, silver hair…

"RIKU?"

I stared at him as he rose slowly into a sitting position, muttering something before staring at me; I stared back at him.

"Uh, hi?" To my greatest surprise, I actually saw him _smile _at my remark. Smile, people! This is the guy that sent glares to me for a whole day and threatened me; I feel my fangirling senses returning. Now only to resist the urge to glomp him—

"What the hell are you doing?!"

As you see, I'm not really good at that. Mm-hmm.

Letting go of him and standing up – I made sure to avoid looking over the edge again – I looked around me. "So," I started. "Any idea where we are?"

I watched him shake his head as he stood up and looked around as well. "We might as well go up," he suggested, his eyes traveling to the castle I saw earlier.

The smile I just had on my face wavered ever so slightly – okay, a lot – as I stared at the back of his head before he turned to look at me, raising his eyebrow. "What?"

I chuckled sheepishly. "Ima afraid of heights, so unless you're somehow gonna carry me, I think we're stuck here." I smiled guiltily as he groaned and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. Turning to look back at the moving platforms, he thought for a minute.

"That doesn't look too high… are you sure you're not gonna be able to handle it?" I nodded even though I fully knew he couldn't see me, but I guess he took the silence as a 'yes'. Groaning again, he sat back down on the ice with his chin in his hands and stared into space.

Blinking at him slightly – it was not like him to give up so easily, I guess – I sat beside him and wound my arms around my knees, bringing them to my chin to keep them warm. After all, we _were_ on an icicle.

"So… how are we gonna get up?" I asked after a few minutes of watching him watching nothing. He shrugged in answer, practically ignoring me. Huffing, I turned to look across the space he was looking at.

"I see you are in need of some assistance."

Heyyy, that was that voice from before! …why do I feel like I've heard it somewhere before?

"Huh?" Asked Riku, turning around confusedly. I turned around with him, staring at the sight.

Hm, freaky tall woman wearing black and purple. …and what's up with her horned hat? I mean, how can that thing stay on?

"I am Maleficent. Welcome to Hallow Bastion."

Oh yeah. She was from the Sleeping Beauty movie, wasn't she? I think she was supposed to be evil…

"What are we doing here?" Good question, Riku.

Maleficent smiled slightly. "Why, you should know that." She laughed at his blank face. "You did open your heart to the darkness, after all. And you…" she turned to me, inspecting me. I shifted my weight from one foot to another under her gaze.

"You were not the one we wanted…" I heard her murmur. "But you'll do." Looking back at us, she waved the staff held in her hand in a circle and I found myself standing in a high, somewhat circular stone-made room. There was a fountain with a lion's head, statues surrounding us, and a large door was at the other end. Stairs led up to a balcony of a sort serving as a second floor, and I could see another pair of double doors and a short corridor with a huge heart-shaped sign-thing. Ooh, pretty.

Walking briskly up the stairs – and giving us no choice but to follow her – she opened the double doors leading to a large, sunny library. I immediately whistled at the sight of all the books – if you haven't known yet, I _love_ reading. I'm one of those people that would read every chance they get. And by a large window at one of the walls, under the stairs curling upwards stood a writing desk and a comfortable looking chair. Perfect space for reading, don't you agree?

"This is the library;" announced the witch in front of us – thank you Miss Obvious. "You will be able to visit it any time you'd like, as long as you are _allowed _to." O-kay… I take it we'll be staying here for a long time? Anyways, back to our tour – Maleficent led us up the stairs and past another desk and some couches – and a Save Point, cool – to a weird room with two sparkling crystals, some contraption in the middle, and a dark hallway leading somewhere else.

"What's this?" I asked as Riku leaned over to look closer at the crystals. I, instead, decided that it would be _much _cooler to look at the machine in the center. So walking over beside the crystal, expecting to be able to stick my head to look up and down – my forehead contacted harshly against some invisible force. Whining, I turned to look at Maleficent, who in turn, was looking at me with raised eyebrows.

"This is the Lift Stop," she explained, walking down to the other hallway. Riku and I followed her, but not before I glared at him for a good two minutes for him laughing at my earlier display of 'stupidity', as he called it.

We went seemingly over the _whole_ castle, because by the time Maleficent showed us where we'd be staying, I was ready to ask Riku for a piggyback ride not caring what he'd say or what he'd do. My feet were _that _sore.

"This will be your room," smiled Maleficent – and I think that was a trace of a sneer there – as she opened a fairly sized wooden door, ushering us in.

And the door closed behind us, and somehow, I feel just like a trapped mouse about to be eaten by an evil cat.

"…"

I turned to my companion when I noticed he remained completely still and silent.

"What?" I asked, walking over to one of the beds beside the window – it was overlooking the waterfalls; so I quickly walked over to the other one.

"We're sharing a room?" I rolled my eyes at my silver-haired roommate's comment.

"Yeah. Big deal. Good night." And snuggling into the black blankets that were incredibly soft compared to what I thought they would be, I fell asleep.

**( Rachelle )**

I opened my eyes blearily. Wincing as I craned my neck to look at my surroundings, I felt my breath hitch in my throat.

_Toto, I don't think we're in Destiny Islands any more._

Groaning in pain as I sat up, I looked at the sky above me. It was littered with many stars – all of different sizes. But… why was that star going out? Shaking my head to get rid of the foreboding feeling that settled in at the sight, I raised my right hand to check if my bracelet was still there – and stared again.

It seems my clothes have changed once again. Instead of the island attire that I had on earlier, I now had surprisingly _rouge_ appearance, for some reason. My previously bright and red pants were now cut off black jean capris that went a little past my knees, a huge red belt with a silver buckle and a the fire design carved into it, black and brown army-styled boots, a fanny pack strapped across my belt – it still showed, though, somehow – and I think I had on a belly-button length red inch-length straps top. Shaking my head and standing up, I tensed as I felt something ruffle behind me. Laughing, I twirled my new brown coat around me. _Useful, _I thought with a smirk. It was zip up, and had a rather large collar with long sleeves.

Tightening it around me since the weather here was much colder than at Destiny Islands, I walked over to the large shop with the neon sign 'Accessories Shop' flashing, ignoring the suspicious looks I was getting.

"How can I help—oh, it's just a kid." I shot the man at the counter a glare, suddenly feeling bolder with my new outfit. "Damnit, I don't understand why so many kids are coming in today." I heard him mutter to himself. Perking up, I left the little green mark I noticed just a few seconds earlier and walked over to the clerk.

"Other kids? By any chance, did a brown-haired, spike-wild boy in a flashy red jumpsuit come in earlier?" I asked, moving my hands around my head to elaborate on the 'spike-wild' part.

The man frowned at me. "He should be in the Second District by now. Name's Cid, by the way." He stuck his hand out and I shook it. "Are you one of the friends he was asking 'bout?" I shrugged.

"Dunno. He might only be looking for Kairi and Riku. Where's Second District?" Cid grunted.

"Door's right behind the shop. Watch out for the Heartless though, kid. The First District is currently the only safe zone." I raised my eyebrows and blinked for a few times.

"Heartless?" He nodded. "…What are those?"

"Eh. 'Being without hearts,' they say. Usually come in the lowest-form here at Traverse Town; short, black, glowing eyes." He grunted again, chewing on the stick in his mouth. "Watch out for them unless you don't wanna get your heart stolen." He shooed me off and returned to cleaning the counter.

Shrugging to myself and rolling up my sleeves – damn, I already love this coat – I exited back out and ran up the steps to the back until I humongous brown double doors showed up. "Must be the Second District," I muttered quietly, pushing them open with some difficulty.

A faint squeak met my ears first thing as several of the 'Heartless' rose up from the ground, and I instinctively clutched my bracelet that changed into the staff earlier. Just like I thought, in a few seconds, I held the metal weapon in my hands once more and smirked at the Heartless, ready in a battle stance.

"Fire!"

Burn, baby burn.

* * *

a/n: a little (3 pages) shorter than the last chapter. But I have to do a hip-hop dance routine for school tomorrow and continue working on my speech. Ugh. 

Bah, sorry about the sudden clothes-change for Rachelle. I suddenly disliked her old ones, and these new ones might hold a new meaning… -coughs-

Anyways, do you think you guys could tell me which character – Rachelle or Alexis – you like so far? I know it's early, but I'm curious. '

Review, please!


	6. Rachelle : Chapter Five

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Rachelle : Chapter Five_  
( I think you've overdone it, Squall )_

¤

"Sora!"

They boy in front of me turned suddenly, his Keyblade in his hand. It disappeared as he ran up to me, leaning over as I panted for breath. After a few seconds of making sure my lungs were working properly again, I grinned at him.

"Took me long enough to find you," I said, standing up properly and swinging my staff over my shoulder as if it was a log cockily. My grin widened as he continued staring at me before sighing happily.

"I thought you were gone like everybody else," He chided me. "When I got here, I was pretty sure I was the only one who got out…" He trailed off and I stared at him in wonder.

"Are you sure your brain's not messed up from a fall or whatever?" I cuffed him slightly, earning myself a glare. I stuck my tongue out at him. "That was for leaving me all alone."

Sora rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that. I was just worried about Kairi…" He stopped again. Rolling my eyes, I dismissed my staff – I just found out I could do that a few minutes ago; isn't it cool? – and stuck my hands in the pockets of my coat.

"I'm sure she's just fine," I tried to reassure him, plainly knowing that I had no proof behind my words. But – to my somewhat-amazement – it worked and he grinned goofily again.

"Yeah, I'm sure she's just fine. We should get back to Cid, though. There's this thing in his shop that will make you feel all better; I don't know what it is, but it's cool…" He continued rambling as I blankly followed him back to the First District. A thought suddenly struck me.

"Sora," I interrupted him, stopping. "What happened to the Islands?" Sora tensed for a moment before his shoulders sagged.

"I don't know," he murmured and I could barely hear him. "Before I got sucked up into that ball, they were coming apart."

We stayed silent for a few minutes. The Islands were not much too me, but to Sora who lived his whole life there… well, I truthfully don't know how he was taking it.

"Well," I started, hoping to cheer my friend up. "I'm sure we'll get them back one way or another." He shrugged and continued walking. Sighing to myself, I followed again.

"Whoa!" He exclaimed as he was met by around six Heartless popping up from the ground the second he stepped foot into the District. Groaning to himself and summoning his Keyblade in a flash of sparkles, he positioned himself in a battle stance. Sighing from beside him, I summoned my own weapon – I really need to give this thing a name – and stood in my own battle stance. While Sora's was one more of defense, mine was pretty simple: just hold the staff in front of me. Easy, eh?

So after a few minutes of us kicking the Heartless's butts – and trying miserably to put out the fire that accidentally got onto one of the nearby crates – we ran in front of the Accessory Shop, puffing up air. Sighing sadly, we entered through the wooden double doors and threw ourselves onto the couches, relaxing.

"Fought the Heartless, I see?" Asked Cid, raising his eyebrow and continuing to clean the counter; has he been doing that the whole time we've been out? Geez, he's gonna get a hole in there.

Sora nodded from where he was positioned. "They never stop coming, do they?" He groaned when Cid chuckled and shook his head.

"There's an Item Shop right by," he started, nodding curtly in a direction. "Get some Potions or somethin'; you should've gotten munny from defeating the Heartless." I raised my hand lazily into one of my pockets, bringing out a bunch of little yellow crystals.

"Ya mean this?" I asked, observing them and watching as light flicked between its little dimensions, reflecting the fire burning brightly in the center of the room. Cid nodded.

"The little ones are worth one munny a piece. Bigger ones range from five to ten." I put the munny back in my pocket. So far, I only had the little ones – that meant only worth one. Boo.

Sora stretched his arms above his head and rose. I glanced at him curiously, scrambling when he walked towards the door. "Thanks gramps!" He called back to the clerk, grinning and exiting.

Huffing, I waved to him and zipped up my coat – the damn zipper wouldn't work with me, I, think I took at least five minutes – and went outside, expecting Sora to be either long gone somewhere or waiting for me.

"I'm gonna get him for that, leaving me alone a—" I froze in the middle of my rambling, watching as some strange guy with brown hair and a weird sword-gun thing strapped across his back leaned over a knocked-out Sora, a young girl in bright ninja-styled clothes beside him, looking curiously.

"You're slipping, Leon." She announced cheerily.

"I went easy on him. But it looks like things are worse than we thought. A lot worse." The man – Leon – picked up my friend and turned to face me. Smiling wryly, he turned to the ninja girl beside him.

"Looks like you're the one slipping, Yuffie." Yuffie shot him a glare, then turned to me.

"Who're you?" She asked, examining me. Hm, she didn't look any older than fifteen – I'm kind of glad to have a girl around my age for a change.

"I'm Rachelle," I said, keeping my staff dismissed for one reason or the other. I inclined my head towards the sleeping Sora. "What are you gonna do with him?"

Leon's eyes narrowed. "Why? Do you know him?" I shrugged in answer.

"I guess you can say that. I met him a couple of days ago." Yuffie nodded and smiled.

"Great! Come with us, then. We're going to the Hotel." She paused in mid-step then turned to me and frowned. "Do you know how to handle the Shadows?" I blinked.

"Shadows? I thought they were called Heartless."

"Shadows are the lowest forms of Heartless; therefore the weakest and most common." Leon replied, already walking back towards the Second District.

"Oh," I said, Yuffie and I following him. "Yeah, I can." The ninja nodded beside me, her short black hair flapping around her headband.

"What kind of weapon do you have?" She asked, twirling something in her fingers. "I have shurikens," Oh, that's what those things are called. "Leon has his gunblade." She continued twirling her shurikens, throwing them at the few Shadows that popped up, most keeping out of our way for some reason.

"I have magic," I answered her question, summoning my staff and holding it up as she examined it curiously. "Dunno what it's called, though." I dismissed it and Yuffie nodded as we stopped in front of some doors.

"You should go see Merlin sometime; he should know what its name is." I looked at her in confusion as we walked down a homely decorated hallway of the hotel.

"Merlin?"

"He's a powerful wizard – don't let his appearance fool you." I blinked as a sudden light from the room we just entered blinded me for a few seconds. Leon walked over to the bed and placed Sora in it, setting his Keyblade in a corner. I examined it thoughtfully.

"So… the Keyblade. Do you know anything about it?" I finally asked, turning to face the two occupants. "Do you know what's going on?"

Yuffie shifted in her place nervously, suddenly refusing to make eye contact. Leon instead sighed and closed his eyes, leaning against the door. "We'll explain once your friend wakes up," He muttered.

Raising my eyebrows at their sudden secrecy, I shrugged and leaned against a wall, sliding down until I was sitting relaxed on the floor, my chin on my knees.

"Hey, I think he's waking up!" I turned at Yuffie's sudden outburst, watching as Sora shuffled in his bed and opened his eyes, blinking wearily at Yuffie.

"You okay?" Yuffie asked worryingly. "Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade. But it's your heart they really want – because you wield the Keyblade."

"Oh," Sora muttered. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm so glad that you're okay, Kairi." My eyebrows rose sky-high at his sentence. Kairi? This boy must have gotten knocked out good. I shot Leon a slight glare, only to be messed up by my giggling a few seconds later at Yuffie's next proclamation.

"Kairi? Who are you talking about? I'm the great ninja, Yuffie. I think you might have overdone it, Squall."

Squall? Haha, that's a funny name… I giggled again as Leon – Squall – shot me a dark glare.

"That's Leon," he stated monotonously. I rose up slowly as Squall took hold of the Keyblade and examined it.

"The Keyblade…" Sora said in wonder.

"Yeah, we had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures. It turns out that that's how they were tracking you," Said Yuffie, walking to where Squall was standing and then turning back to Sora.

"It was the only way to conceal your heart from them," Squall added, closing his eyes and sighing wearily. "But it won't work for long. Still, it's hard to believe that you, of all people, are the chosen one."

The Keyblade disappeared from his hands in swirls of light, reappearing a few seconds later in Sora's lap.

"Well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers."

"Why don't you start making sense?" Sora demanded suddenly. "What's going on here?"

"The Heartless attacked the Island," I said, bringing Sora's attention to me as he frowned.

"The Heartless?"

"The ones who attacked you. You remember?" Explained Yuffie, staring at him blankly, now sitting beside him.

"Those without hearts," Squall continued.

"The darkness in people's hearts—that's what attracts them."

"And there is darkness within every heart." He ended.

The ninja suddenly turned her head from her friend to look at Sora, a curious air around her. "Hey, have you heard of someone named Ansem?"

When Sora shook his head, Squall started explaining. "He was studying the Heartless," he said. "He recorded all of his findings in a very detailed report."

I frowned. "Have you read it?"

Yuffie shook her head. "It's pages are scattered everywhere."

Sora and I blinked. "Scattered?" She nodded.

"Too many worlds—"

"Worlds?" I interrupted suddenly, my eyes widening. "You mean there are other worlds out there?"

Squall gave me a funny look. "Where did you think you were?" He remarked dryly. I rolled my eyes and settled back against the wall.

"That's where the Keyblade comes in…" said Yuffie, her eyes trailing to the gold and silver weapon in Sora's hands. "The weapon able to lock any world, giving the wielder incredible power."

"So…" Sora said, raising the Keyblade and looking some-what proud. "This is the key."

Yuffie nodded. "Exactly."

"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade," said Squall, leaning against the door and crossing his arms. "That's why they'll keep coming after you – no matter what. "

"Well, I didn't ask for this!" Complained Sora, a whining note in his voice.

I rolled my eyes and heard Squall mutter something that sounded awfully like _"We know you didn't," _out of the corners of his mouth and I cracked a small smile.

"The Keyblade chooses its master," announced Yuffie quite loudly. "And it chose _you._"

"So tough luck," Squall grunted.

"How did all this happen…" muttered Sora, playing with the edges of the covers. "I remember being in my room… Wait a minute!" He suddenly exclaimed, looking in worry at all of us. "What happened to my home, my island? Riku! …Kairi…"

"You know what?" Suddenly said Squall, turning to face the boy in slight discontent. "I really don't know. The Heartless will find you sooner or later; their desire for the Keyblade is great. They are ruthless – you'd best prepare yourself."

"Prepare myself?"

I scowled slightly and rose from my sitting position, walking over to stand in front of him. "To fight for your life, you idiot. Haven't you heard anything Leon or Yuffie told you?" I growled to myself at the pitiful look on his face and stalked to stand beside the table.

Squall coughed from the door and turned to the ninja. "Yuffie. Let's go join Aerith. She should be here by now – with the other visitors."

A Heartless suddenly appeared in a vortex of purple, black and yellow, startling us.

"Yuffie!" Yelled Squall, unsheathing his gunblade and pointing at the nearby door. "Go!"

Yuffie nodded and rushed out, leaving Sora, Squall and I alone by ourselves.

"Sora," Squall yelled, his eyes turning to me for a few seconds. "Rachelle, let's go!"

The Heartless jumped through the window – leaving a convenient for us hole – and Squall followed it, gone in the darkness of the night. Sora untangled himself from the covers and ran after him and I summoned my staff, jumping out as well.

We landed on a little rooftop and slid down slowly where Squall was tearing through massive waves of Shadows and slightly bigger Heartless clad in armor, his gunblade shining solemnly in the moonlight.

"Don't bother with the small fry!" He called as Sora and I sliced through a few of the Heartless, edging closer to him. "Go find the leader!"

Sora nodded from beside me and motioned for me to follow him. Running through a passage at the end of the alley and through a wooden door, we found ourselves in a …house?

"Okay…" I mumbled, looking around. Portraits of Dalmatian puppies were scattered on the walls as we walked through several rooms, finally coming to one titled 'Piano Room' where two miserable-looking Dalmatians resided. Frowning slightly, I ran over to them and kneeled.

"What's wrong?" I asked, feeling slightly stupid for talking to two dogs.

They whimpered and pawed at a little book lying beside them, where there were 99 squares on two pages, each numbered. At the top the word 'PUPPIES' was written in large, bold letters.

"…Your puppies are lost?" I picked up the book as the couple whimpered again, this time – I think – affirmatively. I smiled at them and pocketed the little book in my fanny pack – where it incredibly fit. "Sora and I'll try our best to find them." I smiled at them again and waved as Sora and I exited their house, coming to a tiny corridor/alleyway leading back to the plaza in the Second District below the Gizmo Shop.

Fighting our way until we found some doors with the sign 'Third District', we entered.

"Let's go get 'em, Goofy!"

My eyes widened at the familiar squeaky voice – _oh no no no no_ – and seconds later I ducked as a blinding flash sent two figures tumbling down – _please no no no no_ – onto Sora, who lay dazedly on the concrete ground, his Keyblade a few inches from his fingers.

"They Key!" Donald Duck and Goofy cried in excitement when spotting the Keyblade, hurriedly getting off the boy under them. I winced as the duck opened his mouth to say something—

— and he was interrupted as the ground shook underneath him, and blocks of cement shot off from the ground – thus blocking any chances we had of escaping.

I cursed as Heartless appeared on the blocks, jumping at us and striking with their claws. I dodged one and sent it disappearing with a few yells of 'Fire!', Sora swinging his Keyblade around, Goofy running through our enemies with his shield, and Donald casting numerous spells.

I was just about to sigh with relief when the ground shook again and a _giant _Heartless fell from the sky, its head, torso, legs and arms swinging around connected by nothing. Cursing again as the arms shot off to circle me, I jumped over them and went blasting them while screaming 'Fire! Damnit, FIRE!' over and over again until one of the arms slowly disappeared, leaving me only with the one left – it seemed that Sora had defeated the legs faster than I could defeat an arm, and he, Donald and Goody were now running around the place after the torso and head.

I was left alone. _Again. _

Growling to myself, I ran around the arm as it tried to swing at me and jumped onto it, holding onto the edges of its 'gloves' and sticking my staff underneath me and casting the only spell I could at the time; Fire.

After a few minutes of wild bucking on the Heartless's part and loud curses on my part, the arm lay dead on the ground with me breathing heavily a few meters beside me. Watching as it disappeared into tendrils of seeping darkness, I cast a fleeting look at the other warriors.

Donald was lying on the ground as well, his little hat askew on his head and his staff clutched loosely in his hands – feathers, whatever he had. Goofy was resting against his shield beside the little fountain glowing fountain, and Sora looked ready to pass out.

Surrounded by little sparkles and electricity, a pink and blue heart-shaped crystal – was that the 'heart' of the Heartless? – flowed serenely in the air for a few seconds before moving up to the sky, disappearing into invisibility.

The barricades around us slowly disappeared back into the ground.

The Heartless's fame of being 'ruthless' held itself truthfully.

* * *

a/n: short chapter again. This has been focused solely on Rachelle – as the title suggested – and next one is going to be on Alexis. 

What should I name Rachelle's staff? I have a few ideas, but I can't use them or it will reveal a major part of the plot. Also, please tell me if there are any spelling/grammar mistakes; I just went over this after uploading it and was forced to re-upload it cause I had numerous ones there. -sighs- My eyes and tired.

Oh, and what would you like to see in the next chapters? -grins- Please tell me, cause I'm curious to know.

Review please!


	7. Alexis : Chapter Six

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Alexis : Chapter Six

_( "Hey, Alexis." )_

¤

Tick. Tick. Tick.

_Bang. Bang._

Two o'clock – two hours from when I woke up after falling pitifully asleep on one of the beds in Riku's and mine room.

One hour since I gorged down on the surprisingly good food they had here for lunch.

Thirty minutes since Maleficent ordered us to meet here for an 'important' meeting.

What are we, a club?

"So…" I started, staring blankly at the Disney villains seated across from my new roommate and I. There was Captain Hook – he tried to kill me, by the way, when I remarked that Jack Sparrow was _way _more awesome than he was – Ursula, Oogie Boogie – I tried not to focus too hard on him; the bugs were _very _disgusting – Jafar in all his glory (see the sarcasm there? I really don't like him) and Hades – that guy practically burned me when I asked for a hug. But we all still love him. Mm-hmm.

Oh yeah. Some weird dude who didn't show his face in a cloak was sitting some ways off beside us, but I tried to avoid him. He was too freaky for my liking.

"I still can't believe we are to work with brats," I heard Oogie Boogie mumble, and shot him a glare.

"What's wrong with us?" Challenged Riku. Mental hug to him.

Oogie scrutinized us with his hole-eyes things. "I mean, look at you. Ya're scrawny little kids." I narrowed my eyes and pushed my glasses higher up my nose.

"You don't look too good yourself," I snapped. The sack of insects scowled and shook his tiny little fist at me.

"Why you—!"

"Enough."

We all turned at the sound of Maleficent's voice as she emerged from the shadows of the room, her crow sitting on her shoulder and staring at us plainly. Maleficent glared at us from under her horned hat.

"You have not all gathered here to fight. That can be done _later _after we've finished." Nodding, I sat back in my chair, sulking. That bag of _insects _called _me _a brat.

"Seeing as you've all met each other, there will be no need for introductions. Turning to our next main point;" she turned to look at Riku and I. "Your training."

I blanched.

"You will all be paired up against Heartless of yourselves, their powers depending on yours."

I frowned. "But won't the Heartless take our hearts?" I've been given 'the talk' on Heartless when I first entered.

"They've been ordered not to." Was the curt reply.

Riku nodded beside me and crossed his arms. "Why should we listen to you?" I rolled my eyes at his question. What could we do _but _listen to them? Escaping was not an answer.

But, as it turns out, Maleficent was prepared for this. She smiled gruesomely and snapped her fingers. "Because of this."

Kairi's lifeless body appeared in front of our table and Riku was up from his seat and beside her in mere seconds.

"What happened to her?" He yelled, checking her pulse. Maleficent shook her head but from where I was seated, I could see her hide a smile.

"The poor thing has had her heart stolen." She walked towards Riku. "But if you help _us_, we could get it back for her."

Casting one last look at Kairi before she disappeared again, Riku narrowed his eyes. "What do we have to do?"

"Hey!" I cried from my seat, standing up and stalking to the silver-haired-gone-crazy teen. "You didn't even ask me!" I smiled sweetly at Maleficent and dragged Riku to a corner. "We'll be right back."

"What do you think you're doing?" Riku hissed to me, venom burning in his eyes. I mentally flinched but glared back at him.

"What do _you _think you're doing? We don't know what that witch is planning!" My companion scowled.

"So you don't care what happens to Kairi?" My shoulders sagged slightly.

"Of course I do." _But something's wrong. _

"Then agree to their plans."

I watched him as he walked back to the table with the villains, nodding to Maleficent. Sighing, I followed him.

But these were _villains_. Whatever they wanted, it couldn't be good.

¤

_( Normal PoV )_

"Ha! Take that!"

Maleficent watched from her balcony with Ansem, observing the blonde girl below them as she swung the stick she found on the perimeter of the castle. Sighing as Alexis missed the antiform yet _again_, she turned away from the smirking Ansem – who, for once, had his hood off.

"I thought you said she'd do just fine."

She scowled at his remark, her now-cawing crow on her shoulder the only thing betraying her frustration.

"She has a power within her. She just needs to awaken it." Ansem raised his eyebrow and turned to watch the witch.

"Awaken it?" She nodded, her eyes kept on the ball on her staff for one reason or another.

"Death or life situation, or great depression – it will be enough to summon her weapon."

"Death or life? The girl doesn't seem to be one to take things seriously; much less to feel depression." Scoffed the man.

An image of an ebony-haired boy appeared on the surface of the ball.

Maleficent smiled.

"I will see to that."

She stalked out of the balcony.

¤

_( Alexis )_

I groaned as my Shadow avoided my hit. Scowling in frustration I turned to parry the attack I knew would be coming to my back, pushing with all my strength against the Heartless.

"Push from your legs, not from your _arms_!" Yelled Riku from the sidelines, currently coaching me in the art of swordsmanship. Shooting him a glare and jumping back as my opponent flipped back before running quickly towards me and dealing a major number of blows – most of which, unfortunately, hit – I cried in pain as it ripped its claw against my upper body, leaving three diagonal marks running all the way from my stomach to my chin.

Just for a few fleeting seconds I could feel something being torn away from me, but the feeling subsided as the Heartless suddenly disappeared, leaving me alone in the giant plaza with something black dripping out of my wounds. I scrunched my nose in disgust at the sight, feeling slightly woozy.

"Alexis!" I turned my head at the sound of Riku's voice, his footsteps echoing in the hollow room as he ran up to me.

"Hi Riku," I mumbled somewhat sanely. "Why are there three of you?"

The three Riku's eyes widened and I could feel him take my shoulders and shake me, but my vision started blackening until I could barely see.

I swore that a blurry figure of a man with long silver hair was watching from somewhere above me before the feeling of being trapped in a box intensified until I couldn't breathe anymore.

My body fell limp on the stone ground.

¤

White. White, white, white, white…

Wait, I've been here before, haven't I? Yeah, I have, back when Rachelle and I had just gotten here—

—Rachelle! What happened to her!? Oh god, she better be fine. Where was she? Did she get out of the Islands fine? …What happened to the Islands? Or Sora?

"They're fine."

I whirled at the sudden familiar voice. "You!" I cried, pointing a finger at the sitting figure of LK, everything except myself and him suddenly blurring, giving it a cartoon-y look. "You _are _real!" I continued babbling, staring at him with wide eyes. The angel-looking figure merely waved his hand in a bored motion.

"I'm real, I'm not real. Does it matter?" He smiled coyly at me causing me to snap my mouth shut and glare at him.

"I demand to know what's going on!" I yelled, clenching my fists at my sides and wishing for something to throw at him.

LK raised one of his eyebrows. "Do you _have _the right to know?"

I froze, staring at him once again. A scowl unintentionally rose to my mouth – _oh no, not now, please _– and I could feel anger bubbling up inside of me.

"_What the hell is going on!?_" I yelled, panting heavily both from anger and my outburst.

¤

Alexis's body twitched.

The silver-haired teen beside her raised his eyebrows in surprise.

¤

"Anger management, my dear girl."

I continued scowling at his serene expression. "I don't need anger management," I mumbled, glaring at him. "You're just one of those people who have the _greatest _power of pissing me off." I recoiled silently in surprise from my words. _Where did that come from?_

LK raised his other eyebrow gracefully. "Oh?"

I sighed, knowing this would not get me anywhere. Willing myself to relax, I spoke again.

"What happened to me?" I remember the feeling of something being taken – my heart? – and then blacking out.

LK shrugged carelessly. "You were unconscious for some time." He sighed mockingly, raising his eyes to meet mine in amusement. "My, you must be weak to let a Heartless with a rank as low as that one to take you out."

Pushing down the need to strangle the man before me, I spoke my next question. "Where am I?" …Why I haven't asked this earlier, the world may never know.

"You're in my abyss." I blinked. O-kay, I'll just ignore that weird sentence.

"Who are you?"

LK's eyes suddenly narrowed in amusement – does this man never take anything seriously?

"Time for you to wake up."

I stared wildly as things around me started to disappear. "Wait!" I cried, sticking out my hand towards LK. "You never answered my question! Who are you!"

LK's smile widened.

"_Light—"_

¤

I sat up suddenly, gasping for much-needed breath. Clutching the blankets over me for support, I glanced around.

I was back in my room.

"You were knocked out pretty bad… You've been asleep for four hours now."

I turned my head to where Riku was sitting on his bed, a book held open in his hands and staring at me curiously. Nodding slightly, I lay back down and sighed.

"What happened?" I watched as his shadow moved on the walls until he stood next to me. I shrugged tiredly under the covers.

Riku shook his head and nodded curtly towards an adjoining room – the bathroom, I think. "I bandaged the wounds around your stomach," I coughed in surprise and stared at him wide-eyed. "I had the decency to leave the wounds on your chest alone for you to bandage."

Oh. So that's what the pain was. Noting I was still clad in my earlier clothes, I rose out of my bed. "Uh, thanks." I said uncertainly as Riku shrugged, still facing away from me and instead looking out the window.

Shrugging to myself, I grabbed the roll of bandages that was lying on my beside-table and winced as I felt the still open wound protest at movement. Moving slowly towards the bathroom, I wondered as to how I was going to get the bandage to stay on. Why couldn't they just make huge Band-Aids or something? It'd make my life _much _easier.

Groaning resignedly to myself at what I was about to do after my seventeenth failed attempt to get the bandages tied properly on my back, I stuck my head out the door hoping that Riku was not asleep.

"Heyyy, Riku, do you think you could help me?"

I'm sure my face was _very _red by the time he got up from his bed after a few seconds of laughter and entered the bathroom. Of course, I did not miss the slight redness in his cheeks, ha ha.

I stayed very silent while he tied the knots on my back, staring straight ahead at the dark blue wall in front of me. When he was done, I thanked him very quickly and threw on my shirt and folded the hoodie over my arm. Brushing past Riku who was standing uncertainly at the other side of the door, I plopped carefully down on my bed and checked the clock hanging on the nearby wall.

Seven PM.

Greaaat. I don't usually fall asleep at least until ten, so with nothing do for another three hours – exploring, for now, was out of the question – was going to be a long time.

Thankfully – or not – Maleficent came striding in – after knocking politely, of course – a few minutes later and once seeing me sitting on the bed playing with the roll of bandages, motioned for me to follow her. I hobbled up after her, wincing every now and then.

"Where are we going?" I asked her after walking for what seemed like at least thirty minutes to me, but in reality was maybe ten.

"To get your weapon, of course." I cocked my head in curiosity.

"My weapon? You mean I have one?" Maleficent nodded as we turned another corner, stopping at a large, foreboding-looking door.

"You just have to awaken it."

She pushed open the wooden barrier and I walked in slowly, looking around curiously.

"Hey, Alexis."

My eyes widened in surprise – or was it horror? – at the boy clad in black, torn pants with numerous silver chains crossing almost everywhere, dark grey t-shirt, black combat boots, and a red frayed cloak. A pair of miniature black devil wings were stuck to the armor pads on his shoulders. Black hair fell over his ears and green eyes stared at me blankly, a smile on his face.

The reason for my horror?

The boy was completely covered in blood.

I barely felt the cold metal appear suddenly in my hands and turned deaf to the sound of a sword being dragged across cement as I stumbled back.

* * *

a/n: wee. I'm done. I was feeling depressed for some reason for the most part of writing this o-o.

What do you think LK's real name is? "Light—"? ;)

And who's the boy at the end, and how does he know Alexis? –smiles creepily-

And no, in case you're wondering, Alexis did _not _have her heart stolen, and _no, _I did not forget about her seeing the silver-haired man – three guesses who it is, the first two don't count.

Please review!


	8. Wonderland and Us : Chapter Seven

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Wonderland and Us : Chapter Seven_  
( no, you're just simply too big )_

¤

"_You should go with them. Especially if you want to find your friends."_

_I raised my eyes to watch Squall and Yuffie, gulping down my third Potion. Wiping my mouth and scrunching my nose in disgust at the slimy liquid, I shot a look at the currently foot-tapping duck magician. _

"…_Go with them?" Donald scowled at me and continued tapping his foot impatiently. "You've gotta be kidding." I muttered, switching my eyes between the dog and duck – otherwise known as my most hated Disney characters. _

"_I'm agreeing with her on this one," squawked Donald, shifting his staff from one arm to the other._

"_But gosh, Donald. Shouldn't we get all the help we can get?" I turned to look at Goofy in slight surprise._

"_I'm not leaving without Rachelle, anyways." …It might also be because Sora was refusing to travel with them unless I came along. Wasn't that sweet of him?_

"_I can find Alexis fine on my own," I growled quietly. _

_Squall snorted. "And how would you do that?" _

"_You don't have a Gummi Ship," nodded Yuffie, frowning. "Go with them, Rachelle. It would make things much more easier."_

_I sighed. I really **really** wanted to find Alexis, but traveling with the world's most annoying duck and dog? Don't get me wrong; I love ducks and especially dogs, but talking ones? "…Fine." I sighed again. "But just as a caution – I love fried duck." I grinned toothily at the now-glowering magician, twirling my staff around my fingers. _

"_Oh yeah!" I suddenly exclaimed, dismissing the staff and fingering the bracelet that it now became. "Is Merlin here?" _

_Squall shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. He is still away on business." I nodded sadly._

"_Oh well. I can still name my staff though, can't I?" Yuffie shrugged and I thought for a minute, recalling the way my weapon looked. "I know! I'll call it Shimmer!" I glared at the look on Sora's face. "Until I find out its real name, anyways." I grinned. "Now, where are we going?"_

Blinking the memory out of my mind, I watched the little flame of fire – curtsey of fire magic from Squall – as it shimmered in my palm, its little tongues clinging to the air.

_Shimmer, eh?_

I sighed and dismissed the flame, leaning back in the Gummi Ship's seat. It was quite a small one – there was only the little control room, microwave, two seats not including the pilot one, and an adjoining bedroom with a bathroom.

All in all, not that comfortable for four people to travel in it for who-knows-how-long.

_Shimmer… _The staff flashed into my mind. _What are you? _I blinked in confusion as the image in my mind flashed white for a few seconds, the usual silver and orange weapon being replaced by a rainbow-shaded handle, yellow sun and the same orange spikes behind it.

_The staff from before?_

The light blinded my mind again and the staff was back the same.

"Are we there yet?"

"Mm?"

I shrugged at Sora, looking out the window and out to the endless stars outside us. Correction: endless worlds outside us. What could those worlds be?

"We're approaching a world!"

Rushing to look outside, I glanced out gleefully. Where would we be getting? Maybe Lord of The Rings, or maybe Harry Potter? Or something completely different?

"What the hell?"

In my mind, I had already fainted from shock and depression. Unfortunately, here, I couldn't.

So, with a completely blank façade as we approached Wonderland, only one thought ran through my mind:

Maybe it won't be so bad… 

After all, it did have the Cheshire Cat.

¤

_Boink. Boink. Boink. _

I watched worriedly as she continued bouncing the tennis ball she found in the cupboard against the wall, shoulders limp and eyes blank.

¤

What? Falling? Falling to where? 

Darkness.

What's that below us? 

Thud. Thud. Thud. THUD.

Despite manners, I snickered as Goofy held himself up from the checkered floor where he had just fallen.

"Oh my fur and whiskers!" A white rabbit, clad in an adorable red jacket and carrying a loudly ticking hand-held watch hurried right by his nose. "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! Oh dear, of dear! I'm here, I should be there!" He disappeared down the hallway. "I'm late, I'm late! Oh, the Queen, she'll have my head for sure!"

"O-kay…" I blinked after the rabbit. I'm sure it was that rabbit from the story; the one Alice was following. But where was she?

"Shouldn't we follow him?" I raised and lowered one shoulder in answer to the brunette boy's question. We had our weapons out as we walked down the hallway, though I kind of doubted any Heartless would attack us right now and held Shimmer lazily trailing behind me.

A series of doors opened, each one smaller than the other, as we reached the end of the corridor. We entered a pink, oddly patterned room as the rabbit from before scurried past us and to a little door at the other side, many times smaller than the last time we had seen him.

Sora blinked and walked over to the door, leaning lower. "How did he get so small?"

I rolled my eyes and settled down on the chair in front of the delicate-looking glass table, tapping my fingers impatiently. Hm, I guess knowing what's going to happen isn't all that fun.

"No, you're just simply too big." The yellow knob said suddenly, blinking open his little eyes.

"Wha!?"

I winced at Donald's squeaky voice as the trio slightly jumped back in surprise, staring at the doorknob in awe.

"It talks!"

I sighed. Of course it talks.

The doorknob yawned loudly. "Must you be so loud?" It whined. "You woke me up."

"Good mornin'!" Goofy waved cheerily. Mr. Doorknob snorted.

"Good night. I need a bit more sleep." It yawned again.

"Wait!" Cried Sora, reaching out his hand towards it. "What do we have to do to grow small?"

"Why don't you try the bottle," Its eyes traveled towards me. "Over there, by that girl." Sora looked back at me, his eyes looking at the two bottles in front. The doorknob yawned once more before closing his eyes and sighing deeply.

"Should we try it?" I shrugged and picked up one of the bottles, gulping down some of the stuff. In an instant, I felt a tingling feeling start from my toes traveling up to my chin.

I giggled. "It tickles!" A few seconds later I was looking up the height of Sora's abnormally large shoes. "Hi there!" I giggled again at their astonished faces and scurried over to a door I thankfully just spotted, as I guessed that the doorknob wouldn't wake up again.

"Hey, wait up!" I looked back and grinned at the little figures of Sora, Donald and Goofy before disappearing in the hallway. Somehow, this place was making me feel all happy-go-lucky… Wee!

"Rachelle! Wait!" I swayed on the balls of my feet as I waited for the trio to catch up to me while observing the place. It was green, with green grass and green hedges, and a white room-like ceiling and walls. There were two rows of card-guards – they looked just like they did in the cartoon, too – in front of a wooden jury-like structure, and they moved as one aside as my companions and I ran forward.

"…Guilty for attempt at the Queen's heart!"

Waiit. This wasn't how the cartoon went, wasn't it? …Oh no. Did the Heartless…?

"We know who the real culprit is!"

Thanks _a lot_, Sora.

¤

"Alexis?"

Her head turned slightly towards me, and I recoiled from the depression and blankness in her eyes – an expression I never thought her to have.

Her lips parted slightly and the tennis ball went rolling dejectedly on the floor.

¤

So after fighting Heartless in our first 'real' world, as I liked to call it, finding the four evidence pieces – the Heartless did do it, after all; but who knew the Queen even _had _a heart – as well as defeating numerous card guards – I got to blast the Queen with fire right in her face a few times, ha ha – and finding Alice kidnapped, we ended back up on our Gummi Ship.

"We really need to get a new ship," I suggested, settling into one of the seats and popping open the bag of popcorn I micro-waved earlier.

And when we met the Cheshire Cat – oh my, I love him. He is even so much cooler than he was in the cartoon. …Though he did get on our nerves a lot, and Donald threatened to burn him. I was holding _myself _back from burning _him_. And we did get Blizzard magic, too.

Which reminds me – my staff changed slightly. There are now blue vines criss-crossing the orange ones as well. Does that mean that with every spell I get, I get something new added?

Cool.

"We don't have any other ones," Snapped Donald and I shot him a glare.

The Trickmaster was frankin' hard to defeat. I think I twisted both of my ankles while jumping from that table to even get close to the Heartless. That is, of course, until I realized that I did, in fact, could use magic and started blasting fire and ice into his face. Half of the time, though, he blocked them with his batons.

We defeated him after some time, though.

"Couldn't we ask Cid to get us a blueprint?" I whined, wincing as the hot food hit my mouth.

The Queen of Hearts was still sitting in her chair with the card guards and the rabbit in the same place when we left. Was that the only thing she did? Ooh, I hope not. But where else would she go? The Lotus Forest and the Tea-Party Garden don't seem like places she would go to.

Weird.

"Fine, we'll ask him the next time we see him." I smiled triumphantly and threw the popcorn bag to Sora, who caught it and stuffed a bunch of it in his mouth. I rolled my eyes good-naturedly and walked over to Donald and Goofy, crossing my arms and looking out the window.

We also locked this 'Keyhole' thing. It made a weird clicky sound. I wonder what it did.

"What's the next world?" I asked, seeing a star approaching us at great speed.

"Olympus Coliseum."

I smiled. A good world, I think. Killing tons of things? Yeah, I need some stuff to hurt to let out frustration.

¤

"They… Riku, they have Michael."

¤

a/n: uh. Sorry. I'm not in the mood for writing, and Wonderland is not exactly an interesting world (in my opinion) to write about. The weekend's here, though, so I'll try to write more.

Please review!


	9. Appearances : Chapter Eight

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Appearances : Chapter Eight_  
( kids, I got two words of advice for you )_

¤

"Once upon a time there were three bearers of Light, the greatest of friends. But one went towards the path of Darkness, other to the way of Twilight, and one resided in the Light. And this is where our story begins…"

She frowned and shut the book loudly, the sound echoing in the hollow walls of the library. "Damn it," she muttered quietly, her glasses flashing for a second in the dusty sunlight. "Not even good fairytales." The girl snorted and stalked grudgingly over to the shaded window, leaning against the banister of the stairs.

Alexis couldn't bear to change after her 'encounter'. She would have liked to forget it, really. Dismiss it as a dream and a figment of imagination.

She snarled at the sword strapped to her waist.

Unfortunately, the proof was right there. Strapped innocently to the belt she wore around her capris and never going away.

And when she said never, she meant it.

She tried plainly throwing it and leaving it; she threw it out the window and left it under the water to rust. She lodged it into the wall and tried her hardest to break it.

It always came back. No matter how hard she tried, no matter how hard she willed it to just leave her alone, it always reappeared once again at her waist.

She hated it.

"Hey."

Smiling at her roommate as he entered the Grand Library from the nearby Lift Stop, she switched her attention back to the window and he flipped boringly through a book. She allowed herself a smirk as he finally snapped it shut and placed it randomly onto a shelf.

"Can't stay in one place for too long, huh?" She teased, her fingers trailing over the wooden carvings. Riku shrugged and descended to stand beside her. After a few seconds, he turned to look at her.

"I thought you hated heights," He pointed out, motioning towards the window. The girl shrugged.

"Window plane's dusty. You can't see much except for the waterfalls." She smiled again at him as he rolled his eyes and walked back towards the double doors on the other side of the room, waving nonchalantly to her.

Her smile slid from her lips at his departing words.

"Don't hide from people. It'll only make it worse."

Sighing to herself and leaning further onto the banister, she slightly welcomed the feeling of it digging into her stomach. "They just had to have him here, didn't they?" She winced and stood back, rubbing the sore spot and scolding herself mentally for ever doing such a thing. "But I gotta admit," she cracked a smile and took out a fairytale from a nearby shelf, settling herself comfortably into the chair. "It was a smart move on their part." The title read 'Beauty and the Beast – A World's Story'.

"They would have never gotten me to truly fight otherwise." She flipped it open and started reading.

¤

"Haha! Take _that_!" The brunette girl cried happily, smashing yet another Heartless into tendrils of darkness, announcing another win for their team. Grinning triumphantly and twirling the staff contently around her fingers, she shot a smirk at Sora.

"Can ya beat _that_?" Rachelle yelled to him from the other side of the ring as the next round of Heartless appeared. Sora sighed alongside Donald and Goofy and crouched in a battle stance.

"I knew we should have gone to Deep Jungle," He mumbled dejectedly, kicking a Shadow and then bashing it on the head with the Kingdom Key.

"Say," Called Rachelle again, sending a Blizzard into the face of a Heartless. "Wasn't it lucky for us that that guy gave us a ticket?" She grinned as the Heartless disappeared. _Of course, anything Hades has planned can't be anything good, but…_

"I guess!" Yelled Sora, shrugging. "But don't you think he looked a bit suspicious?"

The girl grinned at him. "Of course he did!" She let out a cheer as the buzzer sounded, announcing that they were halfway through the rounds. "We rock, we rule!" She cried in excitement, striking a pose. Smiling to herself, she ran over to where the trio stood.

A young man with spiky blonde hair and a red cloak trailing behind him caught her attention as he walked past them, observing them carefully. She furrowed her brow as he exited at the other side of the arena.

"Be careful, kid. He might be your next opponent, and he doesn't look too friendly." She shot a look at Phil, her brows furrowing even more. The goat caught her look and shrugged.

"Do you know anything about him?" She asked, tapping her staff against her shin in thought. Phil shrugged.

"No idea, kid. He's been beating opponents left and right," He suddenly chuckled and walked back to the scoreboard. "Good luck!"

Dismissing the foreboding feeling she had, Rachelle walked back into the plaza alongside Sora as the magnetic walls surrounded them, signaling their battle has begun.

Ten minutes later and four rounds down, they four stood awaiting their final match. Not surprisingly, the man from earlier walked forward towards the center, a huge sword wrapped in bandages held in his hands. His cloak covered the bottom of his face, thus giving him a blank façade. Sighing to herself at the battle that was to come, Rachelle held out her staff in front of her as her teammates did the same with their own weapons.

The battle started with their opponent sending shockwaves cruising towards them, and them using the ability they gained earlier – Dodge Roll, Donald had said it was called – to avoid them. Surprisingly, the cement floor against their heads didn't hurt at all and they continued doing that until they could get close enough to the swordsman, using the technique of Donald and Goofy distracting him from the front with spells and attacks while Sora and Rachelle attacked him for a few seconds from the back until he turned and blocked them successfully.

Somewhere through the middle of it, all five had a few precious seconds to rest and to regain their energy, and Rachelle gulped down two of the Potions attached securely to her waist, pinching her nose to lessen the taste and Sora did the same, while Donald used Cure on himself and Goofy.

The battle continued in the same pattern – that is, until, the man's giant sword suddenly started glowing and he obtained a crazed glint in his blue eyes, flying towards his opponents in the blink of an eye and attacking madly. Those series of attacks thankfully stopped after a few minutes, but not before all had to rely on some sort of health-restoring resource to make sure they would not faint.

A few more minutes later Sora dealt the final blown towards the blonde's shoulder, sending him sagging against the floor and his sword flying a few meters behind him. Phil cheered madly from the bleachers, shouting incoherent things and jumping wildly. Their opponent suddenly rose, and they could see his face clearly for the first time.

Rachelle whistled quietly to herself, but sighed slightly afterwards. The guy was way too old for her.

A sudden roar caused them to turn in shock, where a gigantic three-headed dog roared loudly, practically stepping on the man's sword as darkness seeped from its heads.

Rachelle smirked while Sora gasped – very much like a girl, she thought – and held her staff at ready, gulping down an Elixir. "Cerberus, eh? Well, this will be interesting." She laughed suddenly as she vaguely heard Hades voice from underneath the bleachers before charging.

"Ooh, right, there was one other rule I forgot: accidents happen."

Cerberus lowered his three heads madly, and Sora was just about to strike – but the heads rose again, this time howling in anger as a well-built man wearing the traditional Greek armor and a blue cape held it back.

"Herc!" Yelled Phil suddenly, scrambling from the bleachers. The brunette girl raised her eyebrows and looked towards the sky.

"Right, how could I have forgotten?" She asked herself and no one in particular, her staff disappearing from her hands.

"Phil!" Yelled Hercules, turning to the goat in frustration. "Get them outta here!"

Phil was already running towards the doors, though, as well with a madly squawking Donald and Goofy behind him. Sighing to herself as Sora followed them, Rachelle ran after and to the safety of the lobby and Phil shut the doors tightly behind her, wiping his brow.

"Phew!" He looked at the four in front of him. "Don't worry, Herc's got it."

Leaning against the large block they couldn't move before, Rachelle examined the little white mark on the floor, waiting for Sora's good consciousness to take over him.

"We can't just leave them there!" He suddenly said, turning to the goat man and pushing open the door. Smiling to herself the girl followed, a reluctant Donald and Goofy behind her. They could hear Phil curse audibly behind them before the door shut tight.

The scene they saw was quite humorous, actually. Hercules was backed up against the far side of the arena wall, their ex-opponent from before thrown over his shoulder as the dog's teeth bared themselves mere centimeters from his face. It turned its head, though, when the four heroes-in-training ran up to it. Fully turning, Cerberus growled at them, drool hanging from its mouths. Hercules ran for the safety of the lobby, clearly tired out, and they could hear Phil yelling.

"Kids," he called, "I got two words of advice for you: attack!"

The dog guardian of the Underworld roared one more time, throwing all of its three heads in the air before baring them down again and snapping wildly. They jumped to avoid them as they smashed against the ground, coming up again seconds later. Sora immediately jumped onto one of the heads, bashing it wildly with the Keyblade. Donald was casting spells everywhere, and Goofy was running around and hitting the heads with his shield.

Rachelle stood a little far off as she tried to decide her plan of attacking. It was going to be kind of hard to cast spells with everything happening so fast, so instead, she ran up close to the heads and jumped onto the left one – Sora was on the middle one and Donald and Goofy were ganging up on the other one – and stuck her staff sun-down onto the dog, alternating between "Fire!" and "Blizzard!", finally beating it with her weapon wildly after a few minutes.

The battle was easier than the one they had before in the tournament, and Cerberus was down in roughly ten minutes on the ground, twitching slightly. An item fell onto the ground before them, with a little tag reading 'Inferno Band' on it, and Sora picked it up shrugging and strapped it onto his wrist.

"Woo! We are _awesome_!" Cried Rachelle, jumping up and twirling.

In the lobby a few minutes later, the four stood happily in front of Phil and Hercules as Phil read on from a script.

"Thus, I do here be dub thee 'Junior Heroes' and confer upon the full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Further—"

"Hey, what do ya mean 'Junior Heroes'?" Cried Donald, waving his fist and glaring at the goat.

"You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a _true _hero!" Explained Phil snappishly.

"So… what does it take?" Asked Goofy.

"Well," started Hercules, "That's just something you'll have to find out for yourselves. Just the way that I did."

"No problem!" Said Sora, putting one of his fists on his hip. "We'll start by proving ourselves in the games!" Rachelle smiled and nodded approvingly.

"There ain't gonna be any games for a while," suddenly said Phil, looking towards the 'Closed' sign. "Gotta clean up the mess from that last battle first."

"Okay," said Sora, already heading for the exit. "We'll be back." The other brunette nodded and waved at the two before exiting as well.

Back at the Entrance, the man from before sat on the steps, seemingly deep in thought. Exchanging glances, the four walked up to him.

"Hey, are you alright?" Asked Sora. The blond raised his head.

"Yeah."

"So, who are you, anyways?" Asked Sora. The man shrugged.

"My name is Cloud." Rachelle snickered slightly to herself.

"Were you with Hades, by any chance?" She asked, suddenly remembering the God's earlier statement and how we were at the arena. Cloud nodded.

The trio of Sora, Donald and Goofy frowned.

"So…" Started the Keybearer. "Why did you go along with him, anyway?"

"I'm looking for someone," Cloud said as he closed his eyes. "Hades promised to help. I tried to exploit the power of darkness," He stood up. "But it backfired." He was still looking at the ground with regret. He suddenly looked towards the blue sky of the world. "I fell into the darkness," He continued quietly. "And I couldn't find the light."

"You'll find it." Cloud looked at Sora in slight surprise. "I'm searching, too." A silence arose for a few seconds as the blond stared at the younger boy.

"For your light?" Sora nodded. Cloud suddenly walked up to him, placing something in his hand. "Don't loose sight of it." He continued walking, his cape trailing dramatically behind him.

"How about a re-match some time!" Called Sora, turning around. "Fair and square, no dark powers involved!" He waved his fist in the air happily. Cloud stopped and turned slightly towards the four. Flicking a few bangs from his eyes, he smirked slightly.

"I think I'll pass." He closed his eyes and continued walking back to the Coliseum Lobby.

The four smiled in good humor and walked towards the World Exit.

"Say, Sora," started Rachelle. "What was that thing that Cloud gave you?"

Sora rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a little shining light. "Oh, this? A new ability called Sonic Blade." He grinned. "I can't wait to try it!"

¤

"He's strong, he's kind, he's always there for you." Ranted Hades, watching the miniature Hercules flex his muscles. "And he's handsome to boot." The Hercules smiled, crossing his arms. "He's perfect," The figure winked.

"Perfect," muttered Hades before summoning a ball of blue fire and flinging it towards the figure in his hand. "Perfectly infuriating!" He growled, causing his skin and the flame on top of his head to turn red. "He makes me crazy!" A tall column of fire shot up from the ground in front of the Coliseum gates, leaving Hades back to his normal blue self and panting.

"Wait a minute," he suddenly said. "What are you worried about? All the pieces are in place, relax. Whoa whoa whoa, here's what you do: let Hercules train the kid. In the next games, I'll take care of them both. As for the girl…" He suddenly turned, clenching his fist. "Who invited you to the party? Stay out of this. This is my show."

Maleficent snorted from behind him. "As you wish. Fight to your heart's content." Hades smiled, then suddenly turned and growled as the witch left.

"Insolent woman," He muttered quietly before disappearing as well.

¤

Alexis bounced the tennis ball against the wall, leaning on her bed. Her sword – no, _Ragnarok_, as Maleficent said it was called – lay on the floor beside her, safe in its sheath. Sighing, the girl slightly recalled the meeting she and Riku had just attended.

"What drew the Heartless to that world?" Alexis listened half-heartedly as the villains discussed the newest world the Heartless had invaded – Deep Jungle.

"_The hunter lured them there. It was his lust for power that was the bait." Said Maleficent, watching the stone slab where a projectile of the invading Heartless was playing. The blond could slightly feel Riku tense up beside her – she was sitting close to him in the circle – as he watched. _

Oogie laughed from somewhere in the darkness and Alexis scrunched up her nose at the sound. "Will the darkness overtake him?"

_Jafar rose from his seat. "A weak-hearted fool like him will stand no chance against the darkness."_

_Maleficent shook her head. "We have far more trivial matters to attend to."_

"_Yes, the Princesses." Ursula's voice rang out, and the blond girl perked up. _

"_Yes, they are falling into our hands," Maleficent smiled gleefully and raised her arm. "One by one." A girl with blond hair clad in a blue and white dress suddenly appeared, looking around wildly. Alexis felt herself wince just watching her struggle before disappearing again. _

"_Riku, you've done a fine job of capturing her." Her eyes slid to beside her for the fear of causing a dramatic scene if she shouted at the silver-haired boy just this moment. Glaring at him, she was glad when the meeting was dismissed a few minutes later._

She _still _hadn't forgiven him.

"You know, I had no other choice."

She ignored the boy's presence as he sat on the window ledge; she could feel his eyes boring into her.

"Maleficent said she was needed in order to start finding Kairi's heart." Scowling to herself at his words, she rose from her place on the floor and climbed into her bed, already in her pajamas.

"She was a little girl, Riku." She said quietly, recalling that Alice – she had recognized her from the cartoon – was quite young. "What are they going to do with her?" Alexis snorted. "They are calling her a 'piece', buddy-boy. Do you think that's a good sign?" She sighed at his silence.

_I need a vacation, _she thought as she burrowed deeper into her blankets. _Deep Jungle looked kind of nice, and I'm sure the Heartless wouldn't attack me…_

* * *

A/n: -hiss- I need a break. It's 1 AM in the morning here. Sorry if the past two chapters have been kind of bland, my mind's been kind of scattered. And sorry for messing up the order of the worlds that they visit; I'm thinking of taking a few out/adding some others ones. Suggestions?

Please review!


	10. Russia, 1917 : Chapter Nine

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Russia, 1970s : Chapter Nine_  
( someone holds me safe and warm )_

¤

"What do you mean I'm not allowed to go to Deep Jungle?" The blonde pouted, crossing her arms and leaning to one side. She glared half-heartedly at Maleficent. "You said yourself I'm getting better at swordsmanship just a few hours ago! And the Heartless there are not all that strong; I'm sure I'll be fine!"

A slight scowl adorned the witch's face. "We will talk of this later."

Alexis watched as she left the room, the crow on her shoulder glancing back a few times. Frowning, she started the trek back to her room. Her figure cast shadows on the walls from the torches that lit many of the corridors, but she ignored them.

_Mean witch, _she thought with a scowl. _I know I'm a prisoner, and **they **know I won't try to escape. _She stopped for a few seconds, muffling down a scream that she knew would start one of her childish tantrums. She continued walking after a few seconds.

_And she said I was getting better, too! She was watching me practice with Riku, and I quote her: 'You are getting better in your training, Alexis.' _ She turned a corner, coming to rest in front of her door. _That's **completely **to the point, isn't it? _Closing her eyes in frustration, she punched the wooden barrier.

"Ouch!"

Okay, so the door was no longer there. Opening her eyes in surprise, she winced as Riku stood in the archway, rubbing the spot where her fist hit his chest. He shot her a glare.

"What was that all about?" He crossed his arms as she went past him to sit on her bed. Raising her eyes to his, she gave a sheepish smile.

"Sorry… I thought the door was still there," She explained meekly, watching as the teen rolled his eyes and leaned on the now-closed door.

"What got you so mad, anyway?" He asked after a few seconds of silence. Immediately, the girl's sorry expression turned into a peevish one.

"That old witch won't let me go to Deep Jungle!" She whined, falling back on her sheets and muffing a scream into her pillow. Coming up for breath, she continued. "You heard her, and she said that I was getting better! I'm sure I wouldn't get my heart stolen, and they all known I'm not going to try to escape!"

Riku chuckled at the girl's childish antics. "They're worried about you?" He suggested teasingly.

Alexis snorted. "Yeah, right. They couldn't care less what would happen to me as long as I fight for them." She sighed, ending her tantrum and picked up the tennis ball for the third time since she got here and threw it in the air, catching it lazily.

"I take it you're fine with them having your best friend?" The blonde girl tensed slightly and narrowed her eyes at his question.

"Of course not," she muttered, watching as the ball came up from her hand. "I guess I've just accepted that fact." Riku raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You're not going to fight it?" He watched as she caught the ball again and clenched it in her palm, shooting him a glare.

"You're always going to bring stuff like this up, aren't you?" He shrugged in answer and Alexis rolled her eyes before continuing. "I've tried to fight it, remember? The sword won't go away, and it's the proof, isn't it?" She shrugged, causing her hair to frizz slightly from lying on the sheets. Rolling over and patting it down, she grabbed an elastic from the bed table to tie it with.

"If it won't go away, I'll just have to live with it, won't I?" She said after a few seconds. Turning back to her roommate, she watched as he frowned.

"But weren't you just so sad yesterday?" He asked, looking at her curiously. The girl paused in thought, brushing her bangs out from in front of her glasses.

"I suppose…" She started, still thinking. "But if you know you can't do anything about it, why brood on it long?" She laughed sheepishly and went to one of the bookshelves in the room, picking out a fantasy novel. "There are many terrible things happening right now," She continued. "And not many can do things to help it… and brooding certainly wouldn't help," Alexis looked up at him and smiled. "Right?"

Riku frowned again. "But you can try, can't you?" The girl shrugged.

"You can try, yeah. But there's a fifty/fifty chance of it actually doing something." She suddenly laughed. "Look, now you've got me into a conversation like this." She leaned back in her chair, smiling slightly at him as an idea struck her. "Say, do you think you can come with me to Deep Jungle? I'm pretty sure Maleficent would allow that."

The silver-haired teen laughed. "I thought you were still mad at me?" He asked. Alexis nodded.

"I am. Kind of. I mean, I'm talking to you, aren't?" She grinned and rose, her sheath tapping against her foot. "So can you come?"

Riku sighed and shrugged, running his hand through his hair. "Sure, why not." The girl squealed slightly, already out the door, bouncing happily.

"Come on, then!" She called, grinning widely. Riku shook his head and smiled, running after her.

"You owe me for this, though!" He could see her nod slightly.

"I know. Remember how you said you wanted to duel me? Well, I think you forgot about it, so… let's say in a week, when I get better, we fulfill that deal." She paused to let him catch up. "Deal?"

He shrugged and nodded, continuing on to the Castle Chapel.

¤

"Where are we going next?" Asked Rachelle, raising her eyes from the book she found lying around. She watched as Sora shrugged.

"The world we were heading for suddenly disappeared…" He paused, looking at the map. "The radar says there's a world nearby us, so we were thinking of going there."

The brunette girl nodded, snapping the book shut and walking over to her companions. "What's it called?" She asked, watching the little dot on the panel move closer to them.

The Keybearer frowned and leaned closer to the panel with the worlds' names, seeing as how Donald and Goofy were currently engaged in defeating some of the Heartless ships that surrounded them. Looking at the girl after a few seconds, he blinked confusedly.

"Russia 1970s? What does that mean?"

If Rachelle had been drinking water or any other sort of liquid, she would have choked on it. Instead, she rushed over to where the boy stood and pushed him slightly aside, staring wide-eyed at the screen.

"Russia?" She questioned. "What movie takes place in Russia…?" Shaking her head, she looked back at Sora and grinned suddenly. "Alexis might be there!" She exclaimed happily. Sora frowned.

"Why?" He watched in amusement as Rachelle started dancing around the room.

"Because," she started, "Alexis is part Russian." She did a twirl and fell back in her chair, humming. "If there was any world she'd be attracted to, it'd be Russia." She sighed and leaned back on the chair, pillowing her head with her hands. "How long until we get there?"

Sora looked back at the panel. "I'd say… right now."

¤

"Deep Jungle was destroyed?" Alexis asked meekly, staring at Maleficent in front of her. "That fast?"

"The world's heart proved to be far too weak," huffed Captain Hook. "The darkness spread faster than we thought."

Maleficent nodded. "It no longer exists," She watched as the blonde girl's shoulders sagged. "But, there is one other world that you may be interested in." An image of a city with a palace and many people rushing about appeared on the pedestal.

"I believe it is called Russia."

Alexis's eyes widened as she peered closer, watching all the miniature people moving around St. Petersburg, with the Romanov palace in the background. Her eyes lit up slightly as she recognized where the world was from.

"Anastasia!" She exclaimed happily, turning to look at Maleficent again. "Can we go there?"

Maleficent smiled slightly at the enthusiasm for a reason only known to her. "Of course. Riku will be accompanying you." She nodded at the silver-haired boy behind Alexis as he too watched the projection with some curiosity.

"How will we get there, though?" He asked, turning to look at the witch.

"Why, by a portal of course!" Called out Oogie Boogie as if it was the most basic thing in the world. Alexis looked at Maleficent as well.

"A portal?" She questioned, not properly knowing how the villains worked. The witch nodded.

"A Portal of Darkness. I will set one up. Go back here once you are ready." The two nodded, walking out of the Chapel to their room. Behind them, Ursula turned to look at Maleficent curiously.

"Why have you left her to go there? The Heartless have already invaded the world. It will not be long before it is, too, destroyed."

Maleficent smiled eerily. "Why, the Keyblade master and his friends are heading there. It will be an interesting encounter."

¤

"Uh, don't you guys think we should get some new clothes?" Questioned Rachelle, fidgeting nervously at the looks their group was receiving. She smiled slightly at one particular look shot at Donald and Goofy specifically. "And I don't think the people here are used to seeing talking animals, either."

Donald scowled, tugging his hat on tighter. "Goofy and I'll just wait back at the Gummi Ship, then." He squawked sarcastically. Unfortunately, it was completely lost on the brunette as she turned to look at them happily.

"That's a great idea!" She exclaimed, smiling. She waved to the two as she and Sora continued walking, leaving them in the center of the large plaza. She laughed as she heard Donald squawk madly behind them and Goofy trying to calm him down, earning even more stares.

"So where are we gonna get new clothes?" Asked Sora obliviously, his hands behind his head as they walked aimlessly around.

Rachelle shrugged. "There should be a shop here somewhere…" She exclaimed loudly when she saw one. "There!" Grabbing her companion's hand, she rushed into it, causing the bell atop of it to jingle. Walking up to the part of the shop where dresses were shown, she waved a hand over to the other side of the store where men's clothes were displayed. "Choose something good!" She called, already looking through the selection. "We should have enough munny!"

Sora shrugged and stuck his hands in his pockets, going towards the men's section. He leafed through a few of the outfits, finally deciding on a white shirt and dark blue pants. Going over to where Rachelle was currently trying to pick her outfit, she turned to him.

"Which one?" She asked, holding a blue knee-length dress with elbow-length sleeves and a dark green sleeve-less one, coming all the way down to her ankles. Sora smiled nervously, pointing to the green one.

"Uh, that one?" Smiling, the girl put the blue dress back on the hanger and put the other one over her hand.

"Thanks!" She called back and walked over to the counter, putting down a bunch of the munny crystals and looking questioningly at the clerk. "Will this be enough?" She asked, hoping he would understand English.

Surprisingly, he nodded, scooping up the crystals and putting them in a pouch, smiling at her. Turning and motioning for Sora to pay for his clothes, she walked to the back of the store to the little change rooms, emerging in the dress and twirling around in it.

"What do you think?" She asked as Sora came out beside her clad in his new clothes as well. He shrugged in answer and nodded.

Rachelle rolled her eyes at that, putting on her coat over the dress and holding her folded clothes under one of her arms. "We should find a bag of some sort to put these in," She suggested as they walked back out of the store.

"Where will we get that?" Asked Sora, looking around for any sign of a shop selling bags. Shrugging, Rachelle thought for a minute.

"Maybe they can fit into our pockets?" She suggested half-jokingly, about to try stuffing her pants and top in her fanny pack. She almost dropped them in surprise when they grew smaller right in front of her eyes, just big enough to fit into the pack. Laughing sheepishly, she smiled at Sora and stuffed the clothes in.

"Well, that solved our problem." She said and started walking as Sora did the same with his garments, running to catch up with her.

"Where to now?" He asked as they passed a train station. The girl shrugged.

"Dunno. Where would Alexis be?" She questioned out loud, watching as a young woman with red hair peaking our of her hat walked past them, a little dog trailing behind her. She raised her eyebrows as she recalled something.

"_I just watched this movie, Anastasia, that was about the lost Russian princess…" Alexis sighed dreamily, currently holding a book in her hands titled 'Anastasia' with a young girl with long red hair wearing a flowing white dress standing on the stairs. "I'm reading the book now…"_

"Oh…" Mumbled Rachelle quietly. She snapped her fingers suddenly. "That's where we are! We're in the world from the Anastasia movie!" She grinned happily. "And that girl, I'm guessing is Anastasia!" Ignoring the incredulous looks shot by passer-byes who heard her little outburst, she hurried after the woman she saw earlier.

Groaning, Sora ran a hand over his face before running after her. "Rachelle! Wait!"

He caught up to her as she watched the woman near the boarded up palace, creeping around it.

"Pooka?" She called, looking into one of the holes. Suddenly the boards gave away under the weight, sending her catapulting in with a startled 'Oh!'. Rachelle followed after her a few minutes later, giving Sora no choice but to follow as well.

"I wonder why we haven't seen any Heartless yet," Rachelle mumbled to him as they watched Anastasia search for her dog.

"They'll probably show up later," Replied Sora, scratching his head.

¤

"Wow!"

Riku watched in amusement as the fourteen-year-old girl stared awe-struck at the large ballroom in front of them. Giggling to herself, she rushed to the middle of it and twirled happily. The boy sighed to himself.

"Must you be so childish?" He called out to her, watching as she bowed to an imaginary person. She stuck her tongue at him.

"Have you tried it?" She asked, walking over to him with her arms crossed. Riku raised and lowered one shoulder in response, shifting the bag with their supplies in his hands. What he was going to say was suddenly interrupted by Alexis as she laughed loudly, pointing at his feet. Looking down, he chuckled at the little dog chewing on his pants' leg.

"What's he doing here?" He asked, holding up the puppy as he yapped. When he received no response from Alexis, he raised his eyes to look at her again.

"If Pooka's here," He heard her mutter, "Then where's—?"

"Pooka!" Both turned at the sound of the feminine voice as a young woman stood atop of the stairs, looking around. "Pooka—Oh!" She exclaimed suddenly as she noticed the two standing under the stairs.

Pooka wiggled in Riku's hands causing him to put him down and he ran over to the redhead, yapping happily. She smiled and picked him up. "You shouldn't run off like that," She chided slightly before putting him back down and looking curiously at the two teenagers.

"If I may ask, who are you?" She inquired. Alexis smiled cheerily and waved slightly.

"I'm Alexis, and this is Riku." Riku smiled slightly at her, and gave a nod.

"My name is Anya," Anya introduced herself, walking down the stairs to stand in front of the large shadowed portrait. "What are you—" She stopped once she noticed the portrait, staring at it as if slightly mesmerized, her hand covering her mouth slightly.

Riku looked in question down to the girl beside him as she suddenly started humming a slow tune. Anya looked back at her in question as well, but smiled when Alexis smiled at her happily and sped up the tune slightly.

The silver haired boy watched in surprise as Anya started singing slowly, the words and pace matching the tune that the blonde girl was making.

"_Dancing bears, painted wings, things I almost remember._

_And a song someone sings, once upon a December."_

She descended down the stairs towards the ballroom floor slowly, and Riku's eyes widened as transparent figures appeared, bowing to her.

"_Someone holds me safe and warm, horses prance through a silver storm._

_Figures dancing gracefully, across my memory…"_

Many figures emerged from the portraits above the trio, dancing with partners in a waltz and descending down to the floor and capturing Anya in their dances. Alexis stopped humming, and instead decided to watch curiously at what was happening.

"_Someone holds me safe and warm, horses prance through a silver storm,"_

Continued Anya, twirling around the people.

"_Figures dancing gracefully, across my memory."_

She started dancing with one of the men and her clothes suddenly changed to a beautiful dress, and a crown appeared on her head, but she continued dancing on obliviously.

"_Far away, long ago. Glowing dim as an ember._

_Things my heart, used to know, things it yearns to remember…"_

The figures parted as a man followed by a boy walked through the center towards Anya where resided.

"_And a song, someone sings,"_

The man held out his hand to her and slightly bowed as Anya accepted and stared up at him softly.

"_Once upon a December…"_

She fell into a bow on the floor.

¤

"What's that?"

Sora questioned, listening to the voice singing past some of the rooms. Unfortunately, he and Rachelle had gotten lost in the maze that was the castle while trying to follow the red-haired woman.

"It's singing," Replied Rachelle sarcastically, already walking towards the source of the voice.

"_And a song, someone sings,"_

She stopped atop of the stairs, watching the ghostly figures bowing.

¤

Alexis turned as she felt Riku suddenly tense beside her. "What are you—?" She stopped as the silver-haired boy sighed slightly and left through the portal that just appeared.

"I'll see you later," He called back curtly before disappearing completely. Frowning, Alexis picked up their bag that he thankfully left behind.

She turned in surprise at the four pairs of footsteps that echoed at the stairs. Her eyes widened in both shock and happiness as she stared right up at her best friend.

¤

Two pairs of footsteps sounded from the other side of the stairs and Rachelle turned to look at the two men hurrying down. Shrugging, she turned to look back down – and grinned happily.

Simultaneously, two voices sounded out in the large, high-ceilinged room and the transparent figures disappeared in a flash.

"Alexis!"

"Hey, what do you think you're doing here!"

* * *

a/n: ooh. Anastasia's world I love that cartoon. And the book, and the story. –sighs dreamily- Anyways, do you think I should somehow try to pair Rachelle up with Sora, leave her couple-less (until the sequel which I'll hopefully will be doing when I finish this) or try to find someone else? If so, who?

…And did this seem fast-paced? If so, please tell me, and I'll try to make the next chapters better. : )

Please review!


	11. Anastasia : Chapter Ten

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Anastasia : Chapter Ten_  
( what do you mean we have to jump? )_

¤

"So… you found yourself on another world, too?"

Alexis nodded at the question, watching the scenery whirl past their train cabin. They – that is, her, Rachelle and Sora – decided that it would be better to follow Anastasia and Dimitri when the two girls told their companion about what they thought might happen.

"There are no Heartless…" 

_Rachelle raised and lowered one shoulder at the brunette boy's proclamation. "They'll show up, sooner or later." He shot her a glare._

"_Well, you're very optimistic." She stuck out her tongue and turned to Alexis, who was watching them with mild interest._

"_There's that evil guy, Rasputin or whatever, right?" She nodded, looking around her slightly. _

"_I'm very sure he's already been or going to be taken by the Heartless."_

"_How do you know about this, anyway?" Both girls shrugged in answer. _

"What world was it?" Alexis blinked. _What **is **the world, anyway?_

"Don't know. But it's a castle that's very big…" She trailed off.

"Why are you not telling us everything?" Rachelle spoke up blandly, earning her a curious glance from Sora and a pleading one from Alexis. Raising her eyebrows in slight surprise, she changed the topic. "What's up with your sword?"

"Oh, this?" Asked the blonde girl, taking Ragnarok from the sheath and holding it out in front of her. "It's called Ragnarok. Why?" She watched curiously as Rachelle leered at the handle of the sword.

"Say, aren't those flowers the same as the ones on your top?" She asked suddenly and Alexis lowered the weapon, looking at her hoodie and shrugging. "Your gloves, too." Continued Rachelle, leaning against the wall of the compartment.

"Haha, you're right!" Exclaimed Alexis, peering between her sword and clothes. "What does it mean, though?" She leaned the sword on one of the walls.

"Have you tried dismissing it?" Piped up Sora from across them, holding out his hand. Immediately, the Keyblade appeared in a flash of white sparkles. "I know Rachelle does that with her staff, and I do the same with the Keyblade." He grinned.

"You have a staff?" The blonde girl asked, looking back at her friend. Shrugging, the brunette held out her hand and her weapon appeared after a few seconds. She held it out to her friend as she looked closer to examine it.

"It's pretty…" Murmured Alexis, running her fingers over the surface of it. "What's it called?" Rachelle shrugged and dismissed it.

"Dunno. I'm calling it Shimmer for now, though." She stuck out her tongue as the other girl laughed slightly.

"So how do you dismiss your weapons?" She asked, picking up her own weapon and holding it tightly in her hands. Grinning, Sora sat up straighter.

"Easy!" He said. "Just think with your mind with the image of it disappearing, and when you want to summon it, you do the opposite." Blinking confusedly, Alexis frowned and closed her eyes.

"Okay…" The two watched as the sword stayed solid for a few seconds, then suddenly shimmered with blue and green butterfly-like things, before flashing and disappearing. The gloves on Alexis's hands glowed the same color and she opened her eyes, smiling widely.

"It worked!" She squealed, twirling in a circle. She stopped and grinned at Sora and Rachelle. "Thanks so much! Now I won't have to lug it around everywhere with me everywhere—!" She was interrupted as they felt the cart behind them quake slightly. Running to the window, Rachelle cursed.

"The cart's already been high-wired!" Running back to where the break was at the other side of the cabin, she watched, as the compartment with Anya was pulled apart by Dimitri and trailed behind them. Cursing again and groaning, she turned back to her companions.

"We have to jump!" Both of their eyes widened as they spluttered.

"Jump!? Whatda ya mean we have to jump!" Cried Sora, mouth gaping.

"I gotta agree with spiky here!" Whined Alexis, eyes trailing between Rachelle and the opening. "You've gotta be kidding!" Narrowing her eyes, the brunette girl crossed her arms.

"It's either we jump, or we plunge to death at the speed we're going." Sighing, the two looked at each for a few seconds before groaning and quickly gathering any belongings they might have dropped while on the train.

"But if we die still," muttered Alexis, "I swear I'll haunt you wherever we'll end up." Rachelle stuck out her tongue at her friend and turned to face the rushing ground below them. Joining hands with the two others, she grinned.

"Ready?"

"Of course not," said Sora, looking cautiously below them. "But we don't have any other choice, do we?" Rachelle shook her head.

"Nope… Three, two, one!" She counted off, all jumping at the 'one'.

"I can fly!" She yelled dramatically for the few seconds that they were air born, before collapsing completely in the snow. Sora and Alexis landed beside her in large lumps, groaning loudly.

"I am never doing that again," muttered Sora, sitting up and dusting off the white flakes off of himself. Alexis sat up beside him, glowering. Sighing, she crossed her arms and looked at Rachelle.

"What are we gonna do now?" She asked. Rachelle smiled sweetly.

"We ask to travel with Anya, Vladimir and Dimitri, of course." She ran over to where the three were gathering up their stuff. "Hi there!" She yelled cheerily, waving. They turned to her in mild surprise.

"And who might you be?" Asked Dimitri, examining them.

"Oh, it's you!" He turned at Anya's exclamation as she pointed a finger at Alexis. Said blonde girl waved sheepishly.

"Are you by any chance going to Paris?" Asked the Rachelle, twiddling her thumbs.

"Why, of course we are! And the more company, the better!" Cried Vladimir happily, already heading off towards a direction. Shrugging, Dimitri and Anya followed.

¤

"Are we walking to Paris?"

Sora choked on thin air at the question and turned wildly to face the three. "You've gotta be kidding me!" He cried, waving his hands around. "That's… that's way too far!"

Alexis rolled her eyes from beside him and patted his shoulder. "We're taking a boat, what else?"

He sighed in relief. "Oh, good." He paused suddenly. "How far is it to the boat?"

Dimitri shrugged. "I'd say a few more days."

The Keybearer groaned.

¤

"If I can do it, then you can do it!" 

Sora watched in amusement as Dimitri and Vladimir tried to teach Anya in the ways of being a royalty, Rachelle and Alexis humming along and trying to copy the moves.

They sang the song repeatedly through their journey all the way to the boat, from plain walking to riding on carts they could manage to hitchhike.

¤

"Aw, isn't that so sweet?" Cooed Rachelle, watching on the deck of the ship as Anya and Vladimir waltzed, looking lost in their own little world. Alexis giggled beside her and sighed dreamily.

"I wish there were more guys like that," She said. Sora raised his eyebrows.

"If you're going to be girl-talking, I'll just leave then," He muttered half-jokingly, shooting them a slight glare. The two laughed and stuck their tongue out at him, reverting their gazes back to the couple.

"Aw," Whined Rachelle, stomping her foot.

"They didn't kiss!" Continued Alexis, pouting.

¤

"What's happening…?" Muttered Rachelle, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She suddenly lurched forward as the boat rocked, sending the other occupant awake as well.

"It's this soon already?" Groaned Alexis, sitting up from the floor. Rubbing the spot where her head hit one of the bunks, she muttered a few curses. Staggering to the door with the brunette girl by her side, she threw it open and stumbled outside, covering her eyes with her arm.

"Okay, this is so much worse than it looked in the movie!" She cried as the waves crashed against the walls, sending the two toppling close to the edge.

"Stupid storms!" Wailed Rachelle, clutching the railings to keep from falling over.

"There's Anya and Dimitri!" Called the blonde, pointing towards where the man held the struggling Anya. The storm suddenly calmed, and the two girls half-groaned half-smiled.

"We're all wet now," Mumbled the brunette as they trudged back to their cabin. "Why did we get out again?"

Alexis stuck her tongue out at her. "It was a sweet thing to see, don't you think?" She asked, opening the door and crawling back into her bottom bunk. "We should be getting to Paris soon," she mumbled. "The city of lights, eh?"

Rachelle chuckled from atop her own bed. "Once in a life time chance."

--

"Oh, we did it!" Cried Vladimir joyously, running out to the garden. "Our little Anya will be going to see the Duchess!" He sighed happily.

Alexis and Rachelle stood behind him, leaning on the doors. "I'm happy for her," Said Rachelle after a few seconds of watching Dimitri converse with Vladimir. "But Rasputin will be coming soon, right?" She turned to face her friend questioningly. Alexis nodded.

"Yeah. But until then – we can enjoy ourselves, right?" Both girls grinned at each other as Sophie came bustling out, Anya behind her.

"Shopping, my dear! We _must _go shopping!" She exclaimed, twirling around in her dress.

Both girls' grins widened, and they turned to look at each other again. "Munny?" Questioned Rachelle.

Alexis shrugged. "I don't think so…" She smiled sweetly. "But you can lend me some, right?" The brunette laughed just as Sora came out of the house, groaning once he overheard the word 'shopping'.

"You owe me, though! And I'll be expecting the payment soon!"

--

"Wow, look at all these people!" Mumbled the blonde excitedly, watching the crowd dance grandly behind the curtains. She turned when Rachelle came up behind her.

"Makes you want to go join them, doesn't it?" She sighed wistfully. Alexis shrugged.

"We wouldn't have anybody to go as our dates, anyways." She fingered the hem of her newly bought light green dress. "And we got these dresses for nothing, too." Both girls sighed simultaneously.

"Pity," said Rachelle after a few seconds, looking over her own dark red dress. "I don't think they sell dresses like these in any other worlds."

"You might be happy with your outfits, but I'm not." They turned at the sound of Sora's voice, as he stood tugging at his tie.

"Wow, it's not everyday you see Sora in a tux!" Joked Alexis, watching him now play with the sleeves of the black outfit. He shot a glare her way.

"And hopefully, it'll be the last time, too." Rachelle shrugged.

"Well, there's gonna be your wedding, isn't there?" She said teasingly, laughing when Sora's face went red. Shaking his head and messing up his hair even further, he looked out towards some of the windows.

"That guy you were talking about earlier – Rasputin, right? – he'll be attacking soon, isn't he?" Both girls nodded gravely, looking back out towards the dance floor.

"Do you think Anya will be fine?" Suddenly asked Rachelle. "I mean, he'll probably be Heartless…" The three looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Oh no," Muttered Alexis, watching Anya walk out to the balcony out of the corners of her eyes. "He's just become even more dangerous…" She groaned.

"We should follow her, right?" Questioned Rachelle, already walking towards the doors. "I think she'll need all the help we can get." The trio rushed out to the gardens after Anya just as she entered the maze.

"Anya!" Rachelle yelled, but the Russian Princess didn't seem to hear it. Cursing as the vines grew and covered the entrance, she summoned her staff.

"Fire!" The little flame didn't seem to do much, due to the girl still being a beginner. Groaning, she tried over and over again.

"Firaga!" The three turned as a large burst of flame rushed past them, burning all the vines with a loud hiss. Donald and Goofy came to stand behind them, the magician looking quite proud.

"Donald? Goofy?" Asked Sora confusedly. "How did you get here?" Goofy tapped his chin in thought.

"Well, we thought you might need some help, ha-yuck. So we followed you with the Gummi Ship."

"…How did you know where we were?" Rachelle leered at them suspiciously. Donald leaned his staff against his shoulder.

"Trackers were put on you two, signaling your location on the Gummi Ship." He squawked and dodged the swipe the brunette girl sent at him, glowering.

"You _micro-chipped _us?" She wheezed.

"Well, it proved useful, didn't it?" She glared at Sora, who in turn backed away slightly. Donald then looked at Alexis, peering at her closer.

"Who are you?" He asked and the girl smiled slightly.

"I'm Alexis, a friend of Rachelle and Sora's." Goofy nodded.

"You're one of the people they were searching for!" He exclaimed, and Alexis shrugged.

"We should try to find Anastasia, don't you think?" She motioned towards the maze, already summoning her sword. "There are probably Heartless there, so we should be careful."

The four nodded and entered the suddenly foreboding-looking greenery decoration, whether it was Keyblade, staff, shield or sword at ready.

* * *

A/n: eew. I think I'm sick. (

Anyways, sorry for the kinda-short chapter, and rushed, but my head's been bothering me all day and I promise I'll try to make the next chapter better... I also decided to not pair Rachelle up with Sora, but instead either get an OC or leave her pairless for now. I haven't decided which.

Please review!


	12. Rasputin : Chapter Eleven

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Rasputin : Chapter Eleven_  
( "You knew you weren't going to be able to stay with them, right?" )_

¤

_"Today's top story: Two girls by the names of Rachelle Jenov and Alexis Hina are still reported missing. A classmate of theirs, by the name of Michael Arnyse has been found missing yesterday evening as well. Fellow school students say that the three have been best friends ever since they can remember, and we have an interview with one of the three children's friends. "_

_The scene changed from the broadcaster towards a teenage, fifteen-year-old boy. A white school building stood behind him and students milled around, casting curious looks. The boy's blue eyes narrowed in worry as a question went unheard from the report-woman._

_"Alexis and Rachelle are not the type of girls who will run off just like that, I can assure you." He frowned, brushing his blonde locks out of his face. "I've known them and Michael for two years now, and they have never shown any signs of mistreatment at home." He shrugged. "If they truly are gone, I suggest you believe any clues they may have left." A pause. "As for Michael… The guy will do anything for those two. My guess is wherever they are, he is as well."_

_The scenery changed again back to the news studio. "A crash on Road 69—" _

_The TV blinked off, curtsey of the slim remote held in the feminine figure's pale fingers. A blank look adorned the lower half of her face, and white hair displaced messily tumbled to her waist as she cocked her head. _

¤

"Heartless ahead!"

The yell echoed throughout the now-alive maze, alerting the party's members. With a frustrated yell, the brunette Key Bearer slashed through two Soldier Heartless, sending hearts floating off to who-knows-where. Growling, he threw his Keyblade ahead of him to clear the path, jumping up to catch it.

"How many are there!?" Sora yelled, dodging a swipe from a Shadow and tumbling to the ground. Scowling at the emotion-less yellow eyes that stared down at him, he kicked it off of him and struck it with the silver and gold blade.

"Who knows!" Cried Alexis a few ways beside him, jumping over a Heartless claws to avoid getting hit. Giggling slightly in amusement as she jumped yet again causing the two Heartless's skulls to smash together, she called to where her brown-haired magician friend was blasting off a Solider with spurts of fire. "Rachie, this is just like skipping!"

Rachelle shot her an incredulous look, hitting a Heartless with the top part of her staff. Glancing back quickly over at Donald to nod at him in thanks for freezing the Shadow that was just about to strike her back, she ran over to where the blonde was.

"Whadaya mean?" She inquired, bonking Shadows in the face as she spun in a circle, her weapon outstretched. Waving to the hearts that departed from the bodies, she turned to look at her friend again as both paused to catch their breath.

Grinning after a few seconds, Alexis stood back up and crossed her arms, Ragnarok hanging dangerously close beside her knees. "Well, one of the key moves here is to jump, right?" She demonstrated and jumped over another Soldier (Shadows and Soldiers seemed to be the only Heartless around) and balanced on its head for a few seconds before it disappeared, waving her arms wildly around.

"Strawberry shortcake," She chanted, jumping over more Heartless and swinging the flower-etched sword around. "Huck a berry pie!"

"Who's gonna be my lucky guy?" Joined in Rachelle, sending a Blizzard spell towards a group of Shadows. "A, B, C, D, E…" Dodge-rolling out of the way of a running Soldier with Goofy mad on its heels, she continued. "F, G, H, I, J—"

"What the heck are you doing?" She turned to look curiously at Sora beside her, as he rested his hands on his knees for breath, giving her a half-mad half-amused look. Shrugging, the girl shot a Fire spell at the Shadow in front of her.

"We're having fun, that's what!" Yelled Alexis, moving out of the way of a madly clawing Shadow as it ran after her. Hitting it with the dull edge of her sword, she watched happily as it dispersed into darkness and disappeared completely.

"Take that!" The three turned to watch as Donald 'Thandara-ed' the last Heartless for a few meters. After a few seconds of catching up their breath from the battle, the party continued.

"So who do we know that has a name that starts with 'J'?" Asked Rachelle after a few minutes of walking in peace. Alexis put her forefinger to her chin in thought.

"There's that Jeremie guy from homeroom," She suggested, tapping the hilt of Ragnarok impatiently with her other hand. She smiled humorously as Rachelle made a gagging sound.

"Ugh, no way. You know I hate him, right?" Alexis sighed.

"There's always Jenick from English—" She full out laughed as the brunette's eye twitched.

"There are no cute guys," She said, sulking good-naturedly. Shooting Alexis a curious glance as the blonde's eyes suddenly danced behind her glasses, she held up her hands. "Okay, what are you thinking?"

"Well…" The girl started innocently, still staring at Rachelle with a smirk playing on the edge of her lips. "There's always Justin…" She laughed again as the brunette's cheeks went pink and she turned away, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"Whom're you talking about?" The sword-wielder pushed up her glasses further up her nose as she looked over in the direction of the confused hero.

"People we know, or knew, or whatever the term is now," She replied, watching as he shrugged and continued walking. Edging closer to the still-blushing brunette, she smiled widely. "Sooo…You still have that crush on him?" Her smile widened as the girl shot her an exasperated glare in answer. Spreading out her hands – and nearly hitting Rachelle with Ragnarok – she continued.

"You know, I'm completely with that. You two would make an adorable couple…" She sighed dreamily, watching the brunette's reaction out of the corners of her eyes.

Rachelle groaned and batted her friend away slightly. "Oh, drop it," She growled teasingly. "Whether I like him or not, it's not something we should discuss right now."

Alexis frowned and pouted slightly. "Why not?"

"Because we're about to enter another fight." Pointed out Rachelle cheerily, pointing slightly as the green walls around them lowered themselves slowly, letting the group see their surroundings for the first time since entering.

Sora frowned. "Where do you think—?"

"Anya!"

The five turned abruptly at Dimitri's yell, looking wildly around for the source. Finally spotting him leaning over the edge of the bridge where the Russian Princess was pathetically hanging, they rushed towards him.

"Dimitri! Where's Rasputin?" Cried Rachelle, plopping down beside him to help pull Anastasia up. She noted the largely swelling bruise on the young man's face and winced, looking around once more.

"He just disappeared," Muttered Dimitri. "There was a cloud—" Whatever he was going to say got cut off as black gas suddenly appeared from the cracks in the cement, choking him as well as Anastasia. Groaning to himself, he passed out, the redhead as well.

"What is this stuff?" Cried Sora, covering his mouth and nose with one of his hands, coughing into it.

"I've been humiliated once," A voice hissed from inside the smoke unexpectedly, the form of Rasputin becoming visible. "I shall not be again! Heartless, come to me!" Darkness crept up to him quickly, covering his body as he laughed – more like choked – madly. The black liquid-styled element stayed there for a few seconds before disappearing in the blink of an eye, and instead when Rasputin opened his eyes again, they glowed yellow.

Alexis winced. _Is this what Heartless can do to people? _

Claws sprouted where Rasputin's fingers once had been, completely covered in black – darker than the night, blacker than the mess you sometimes get when you mix water paints together. Sora already had his Keyblade out and clutched firmly in his fingers, a scowl set on his face. Goofy had his shield thrust out in front of him, and so did Donald with the Mage's Staff.

Shaking her head to rid of the foreboding feeling that settled in the pit of her stomach concerning Riku, Maleficent, and the 'Princess' she had talked of, the blonde warrior stalked Ragnarok into a battle stance as her friend did the same beside her. Shooting a quick glance at the suddenly tense Alexis, Rachelle half-teased.

"Your first major fight?" Alexis smiled slightly and nodded.

"Yep. But I'm sure we'll defeat this thing, right?" The brunette laughed and shook her hand with the staff to loosen the muscles a little.

"Of course we will!"

"Charge!" The battle was started with Donald's squawking yell and numerous, large lightning bolts caused by the magician as he Thandaga-ed the human-turned-Heartless monster. The Heartless Rasputin proved to be too fast, unfortunately, and avoided most of the hits, wincing only when the others managed to strike him.

"Blizzard!" Rachelle cried, rushing forward in hopes of getting the spell to hit him somewhere fatal. Sora and Alexis ran beside her on either sides and bashed the enemy wildly from everywhere they could.

"Watch out, ha-yuck!" The trio jumped out of the way as Goofy jumped up high and struck Rasputin with his shield, landing beside them safely as the Heartless staggered in pain. Shaking his head and growling menacingly, he raised his palms to the sky, causing the gas from earlier to return – only this time, green. And not the Cure-type green, but a sewage-water green.

Moaning as the smell hit her nose unexpectedly, Alexis stumbled back clutching her stomach as cramps erupted. "What kind of attack is _this_?" She muttered bitingly to Rachelle beside her, curled up in the same position. The girl snickered slightly but winced soon after as more pain rocked her body.

"Curaga!"

Sighing in relief, both warriors smiled at Donald through the smoke as it slowly disappeared. Summoning their weapons back to them – which had both managed to fall mere minutes earlier – they turned back to the figure of Rasputin, identical growls on their faces.

"You're getting it this time, buddy!" Yelled Alexis, hacking at him madly as he stumbled back. Puffing for air as she felt her energy slowly disappear, she moved just in time as Rachelle's Fire spell came blasting past her, straight into Rasputin's face.

"Yes!" She cheered, inwardly wincing at the Heartless's pained yells.

"Watch out!"

The Kingdom Key came flashing out of the now-almost gone acid-green gas, striking the Heartless straight through the middle. Sora came up running a few seconds later, a look of determination etched firmly onto his face as he caught the Keyblade, watching in satisfaction as Rasputin shrieked once more before black fumes came off of his body, leaving his bones crumbling to the ground.

Rachelle winced. "Ouch." Alexis nodded beside her, dissolving Ragnarok and falling limply to the destroyed cement ground, groaning loudly.

"Miss, you don' know what has been there, ha-yuck."

She came back up with a yell and glared at the chuckling Goofy and Donald, but soon erupted into fits of giggles herself.

"What's this?"

The party stopped laughing and turned to look curiously at Rachelle, who held up a broken oddly decorated glass tube confusedly in her hand. "Oh!" She exclaimed as Sora's Keyblade glowed for a few seconds, and he raised it, pointing it at the vial. A paper-thin white beam shot out of the tip and to the center of the object, before a clicking sound was heard and it disappeared, the vial slowly disappearing into dust quickly as well.

"Wow, that was weird, wasn't it Alexis?"

Rachelle turned quickly to the spot where her friend was standing just seconds before when she received no answer. "Alexis?" She called, looking around wildly.

"Well, looks like we'll have to search for her again."

She turned and glared at Donald for a few seconds before sighing. "I guess," She said. A smile slowly spread across her face. "But now we know that she's okay, at least."

Sora nodded, but then groaned. "I didn't get to ask her if she had seen Riku!" Rachelle hit him lightly upside the head, snickering.

"Don't worry, we'll find him. And her!" She turned to Donald and Goofy again, smiling. "Now let's get out of here! This dress is starting to feel like it's in tatters, I want to get back to traveling, and Dimitri and Anastasia seem to be waking up." She nodded towards where the two figures were slowly stirring. "And we don't want to explain what happened, now do we?"

The four laughed, looking around the completely destroyed bridge before running back through the now-normal maze just as Dimitri sat up wearily. After glancing around, his eyes widened.

"What _happened _here?"

¤

"You knew you weren't going to be able to stay with them, right?"

Alexis rolled her eyes and tucked a piece of hair behind an ear, glaring lightly at her silver-haired companion. Swinging her feet lazily over the edge of the flat roof that they were sitting on, she watched as the four heroes – or soon-to-be heroes – made their way to where their Gummi Ship was parked.

"What bothers me, actually, is why you didn't want to see Sora." She raised her eyes questioningly to Riku. "I'm sure he would have been very happy to see you."

Riku shrugged. "I'll see him soon." Smiling, Alexis stood up beside him.

"Why are you here, anyway? I thought you left me for sure."

"Somebody needed to pick you up, didn't they?" She stuck out her tongue at him and twirled happily, sighing at his alarmed look. "We're on a flat surface, buddy-boy. I'm not gonna fall off."

He rolled his eyes and made for the portal hovering a few meters beside them. "We should get back," He called, motioning for the girl to follow.

Alexis stuck out her bottom lip childishly and crossed her arms. "Can we at least stay for one more song?" Her eyes switched to the balcony below them where music, laughter and light poured out. "It's not everyday we get to be at a party like this…"

Her eyes lit up suddenly and she turned back to Riku. "Do you want to dance?"

He choked slightly. "What?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "It's good for battling, so I'm sure you won't regret it." A slow, nice-sounding melody came on. "Please?"

Groaning, he walked back over to her and paused.

"You do know how to dance, do you?" Sheepishly, he shook his head at the question. Alexis laughed in good intentions and walked closer to him, nearing the space between as she put his hands on her waist and her arms around his shoulders.

"Now, it's easy, actually. Just listen to the music and one, two step…" She walked forward, causing Riku to stumble back before catching himself. He moved forward as Alexis stepped back, smiling at him.

"See? It isn't that hard." She blinked for a few seconds, leaning closer to him before smiling triumphantly and stepping back. "You're blushing, Riku!" Her smile widened as he shot her a glare, the pink under his eyes still visible even in the dark of the evening.

"So what if I am?" He challenged back, raising one of his eyebrows. Laughing, Alexis stood back and ruffled his hair slightly before practically skipping back to the portal.

"Don't worry, Riku! I find you attractive, too!" She called back teasingly before disappearing, leaving one confused silver-haired fifteen-year old teenager staring at the spot where she once had been.

Smiling slightly for some reason even unknown to him, he shook his head and stepped through the portal as well, muttering something under his breath.

"Whatever."

He actually meant it good-naturedly, too.

¤

"The boy's becoming a problem."

Maleficent turned to look at Captain Hook leeringly. "It is the power of the Keyblade," She stated slowly. "That is giving him the power. It is not his own strength."

"But he's sealed two of the Keyholes." Piped in Ursula, her tentacles twitching in annoyance. Maleficent shook her head and spread her palm over the projection of Sora.

"No matter. It will take him ages to lock all the other ones. And he still remains blissfully unaware of our plans. As well, once more, more _important _matters are calling to us."

She watched the Alexis in the image literally bounce around her room, a book clutched in her hands.

"The girl has not fully unlocked her power," The witch said quietly and the images blurred until a familiar male figure stood leaning against a door with his eyes closed, his black hair covering them.

"Our plans are slowly, but surely building themselves."

More images; this time of a blonde boy obliviously doodling in a notebook, and a white-haired little girl watching him curiously from the doorway.

"And yet, more pawns have appeared on the board."

¤

_Childish pink eyes shined innocently in the dark room, staring at nothing. _

"_Well, what are you playing at?" Her voice sounded out, sounding far too mature for her age. Immediately, she giggled. "My, no matter." The childish twinge that any child that age should have returned. "I will have quite the fun anyways, won't I?"_

_Full out – almost maniacal – high-pitched giggles ran out once more as the eight-year-old girl stood up, her dress bouncing around her. Long white hair blinded the darkness for a mere few seconds before it disappeared behind the door, the laughter still ringing in the walls. _

"_Good afternoon, Justin!" She called happily to her older brother and leaned against the doorframe, watching as he sat relaxingly in his chair, bend over a notebook. _

'_Yes, this will be interesting, indeed.' She paused in her thought, watching as he erased something in frustration. 'And one of our most important pieces doesn't even know it.'_

* * *

a/n: …whoa. I don't know what came over me. o-o Haha, more characters introduced, and I have to tie up even more loose knots. –sighs- But all of the characters you've seen should be all of the OC cast, hopefully. The male OC for Rachelle, Justin, is introduced, and so is his sister. …But who is she? –laughs- Should I do 'Mystery' as another genre? xD 

Please review!


	13. Little Hidden Secrets: Chapter Twelve

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Little Hidden Secrets : Chapter Twelve_  
("Uh, hi?")_

¤

"_We really need a computer here."_

_Riku turned to the blonde, raising his eyebrows. "Why?"_

_Alexis shrugged, tapping a melody on the desktop. "It's so boring here, y'know? We can't go to any more worlds for now, and there isn't any entertainment for us." Yawing and stretching out her arms above her head, she walked back down to her bed and plopped onto it. _

"_I want to have some of my stuff here, too," She said, rolling over on her stomach and putting her chin in the palms of her hands, looking at her roommate. "I have the awesomest things, too. Well, I think so, anyways. Most people think it's just plain weird." Blowing some bangs from in front of her glasses, she rolled her eyes. "I mean, there's nothing weird about a huge collection of plushed animals, is there?" _

_Riku blinked and sat on his own mattress, leaning back on his hands. "You still have stuffed animals?" He asked incredulously. _

_Alexis nodded. "Of course I do. Those little things have been with me forever." She moved back on her back, hugging a pillow. "Most people have gotten rid of theirs a long time ago, but Rachie and I still have ours." She moved her head to look at the teen across of her, watching him with up side-down vision. "What about you?"_

_He laughed slightly. "I don't have mine anymore." He shrugged when Alexis shot him a glare. "Never had that much of them to begin with. Boys are not really into all that stuff."_

_Huffing, Alexis sat back up. "What are boys into, then?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow. A smirk tugged on the edge of the boy's lips._

"_Exploring?"_

_Hooting loudly, the girl jumped up and crossed her arms, the pillow still in her hands. "You're on then!"_

"…_Aren't you going to put the pillow down?" _

"_Of course not. It's either me glomping onto you when I get freaked out in this huge castle or the pillow."_

"…_O-kay then. Let's start with the highest levels and work our way down."_

"_Great! –But wait, aren't Dungeons usually at the bottom?"_

_Riku shrugged, already out the door. "Sure. Coming?"_

_Laughing nervously to herself, Alexis hugged the pillow closer and shut the door behind them._

¤

"Whatchya drawing?"

The blonde turned around at the voice of his little sister and spotting her standing curiously at his door, he smiled slightly. "Just random doodles," He watched as she bounced over to his desk, peeking around his shoulder to see. Giggling, she turned to him with a childish smile.

"Justin! Isn't that Miss Rachelle?" Blushing, Justin stuck his tongue out at her and flipped to a new page.

"Maybe it is, maybe it's not. And wasn't mom looking for you, Tony?" He teased. 'Tony' frowned slightly and walked back to the corridor, waving back at him over her shoulder.

"Okay, Justin!" She disappeared around the corner, her little white and pink summer dress floating around her knees. Shrugging to himself, the fifteen-year-old turned back to is previous drawing, shading in the girl's clothes.

"Something weird's been happening…" He suddenly said, still focusing on the picture. His voice floated around his still bedroom, reaching no-one's ears. "First Alexis and Rachelle disappear, now Michael?" He paused, both in his words and his coloring. "It's just not possible." He signed his name on the bottom of the page with a flourish, looking over his artwork with a criticizing eye. The Rachelle on paper was sitting on a ledge sticking out of nowhere, her legs tucked in with one of her arms on them while the other hanged loosely down. A small pond with a reflection of her was below, one of her fingers almost touching it. She was wearing an odd assortment of clothes, including a long coat with a red top, accompanied by torn jean capris barely showing under.

Justin frowned and picked up his pencil again, sketching in a blank mirror above her and a little bracelet held loosely in the hand that was trailing down.

Laughing, he shook his head and closed the notebook, putting it under some of his school textbooks. "Well!" He exclaimed, leaning back on his chair and crossing his arms behind his head. "That was weird!" Laughing again, he stared happily out to the dripping rain outside of his window.

¤

"Antonia, can you help me with the dishes, please?"

The eight year old frowned for a split-second before smiling brightly and nodding. Jumping up on the little chair placed especially for her in front of the sink, she turned on the water and started scrubbing a dish.

"Mommy," She started suddenly. "Have you heard of what has been happening at Justin's school?" When the older woman shook her head from the cupboards, Antonia continued. "Miss Alexis and Miss Rachelle are still gone, and Sir Michael is missing as well."

The blonde woman frowned, putting away the dish her daughter handed to her. Growing used to the girl's uses of 'Miss' and 'Sir', she no longer took it as a different part of speech. Thinking for a second, she asked.

"And does Justin know anything about this?"

The whitenette shook her head. "A news crew came to his school today, remember mommy? The only things brother said were that his guess was that where Miss Alexis and Miss Rachelle were, Sir Michael would be there as well." She sighed audibly before toweling off her hands and grinning, skipping out of the kitchen.

"Good night, mommy!"

Maria Antasia frowned again as she listened to her child's footsteps disappear up the stairs. Ever since she decided to adopt the girl four years ago, things have started going slightly, in no other words, weird in the neighborhood. The little girl seemed to be adored by everybody; whether it was their grouchy neighbor who always proclaimed he hated kids, down to the slightly crazed woman down the street with the eight cats.

Aside the alien-looking appearance with white hair and pink eyes the girl seemed to have, she also seemed to be the perfect child. But that can't be right – no child, or person for that matter, is ever perfect.

But there you had it: a perfect beautiful eight-year-old with glimmering white hair and pink eyes, with a perfect attitude, personality, and the like.

Maria sighed and continued putting away the silverware.

¤

Antonia sighed boringly and continued tapping her fingernails against the cold glass of the window. Watching the rain pour outside, she was distractively reminded of another world – a world where she once had spent her whole life at.

Scowling an expression fit for a gnarly businessman and not an eight-year-old girl, she shooed away the thoughts and instead turned her eyes to her room. Nothing too special – a messy bed in the middle, some drawers at the far side against a light purple wall, a paper-littered desk with a lamp on it beside her and the white couch she was sitting on.

Sighing again, Antonia jumped down from the cushions and waddled over to her bed, slipping under the light covers and turning on her side to watch the rain again.

"People sometimes can be so clueless," She whispered haughtily to no one in particular, a poison-sweet smile on her angelic face. Shrugging to herself, she turned on the other side and closed her eyes.

_But games have always been my passion, haven't they? _

She giggled at the thought.

¤

"_What was that!?" Cried Alexis, practically suffocating herself with the strength she was hugging her pillow to her body. _

_Riku rolled his eyes and continued walking, keeping one eye on the freaked-out girl behind him. "Probably a spider, Alexis." _

_Alexis growled and peeked out from behind the pillow to glare at the back of the teen. "How come you can be so calm in a place like this?" She whined, running to walk beside him. He shrugged._

"_Nothing's really that scary here?" He dodged the swipe sent his way and rolled his eyes again._

"_We don't know what could be here!" The blonde cried, shying away from a creaking gate leading to one of the many passages of the Waterway. "These are not even the Dungeons, and it's already freaky!"_

"_Oh, stop whining already," Snapped Riku, pushing open a much-oil needed door and stooping low to walk through it. "I can leave you alone here and you'll never be able to find your way back." To demonstrate his point, he took off, smirking as he heard the girl yelp behind him and splash through water to catch up._

"_Riku, wait! DAMNIT, WAIT!" _

_He stopped, lightly catching his breath as Alexis came up beside him, leaning down to her knees with the pillow cushioning her hands as she gulped in breaths. "Why do you have to run that fast?" She muttered to him, glaring. Huffing, she walked forward after a few minutes to the nearby door. _

"_I think this will get us—oh!" She suddenly exclaimed as the door instead swung open without her even touching it, showing a semi-wet ebony-haired teenager with a large sword strapped onto his back. Once realizing that he was inches away from a frozen-from-shock blonde haired Alexis, he jumped back slightly. _

"_Michael!?" Said Alexis exclaimed, staring at him widely. Rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, Michael smiled guiltily. _

"_Uh, hi?"_

_Riku watched on with amusement and curiosity as Alexis spluttered, opening and closing her mouth like a fish. "Y-you're supposed to be locked up!" She finally exclaimed, pointing a finger accusingly at him. "What are you doing here?" Noticing his slightly hurt look, she quickly shook her hands, keeping the pillow in place with her chin. "Not that I didn't miss you, of course!" Her voice sounded muffled and she took the pillow again in her arms, watching the boy in front of her curiously. _

_Michael smiled slightly at her exclamation before opening his arms in a circle and teasing slightly. "I don't even get a hug?"_

_Pausing slightly, Alexis mentally weighed the options: either hug the boy, or decide to lecture him. Choices?_

"_I'm gonna kill you later for this, though!" She suddenly said, throwing the pillow at Riku – who almost dropped it, only stopped by the glare Alexis was giving him – and throwing her arms around her best friend in a glomp. "And you're still gonna have to explain what you're doing here!"_

_Laughing again, Michael shook his head and ruffled Alexis's hair beneath his chin, seeing that he was slightly taller than her. _

"_I know."_

* * *

a/n: I am so sorry for this filler chapter. : ( But I have a seriously bad coughing cold and I have a lot of stuff do for school tomorrow and I'm going skating on Friday, and my friend has been missing school for a whole week now due to her own cold, and I'm slightly worried.

As for the contents of this, it needed to be explained and I didn't know how else to do it. XD; I'm trying to tie up some of the loose ends I have, and this is done within an hour, so it's hurried. I promise (and it hopefully will come true soon) that next chapter Sora, Rachelle, Donald and Goofy will show up again seeing as how they aren't in this chapter. Next worlds are a short visit in Traverse Town, and then Agrabah.

It also seems that Justin is not as 'clueless' as his sister thought of him to be, though he still doesn't completely understand what's going on. And what do you think of Antonia? I was first thinking of naming her Maria, but after reading this one book, the name 'Antonia' was just stuck in my mind. A little – and I mean _very little _– of her 'past' is slipped in, but all about who she is will be explained later (probably in about two or three more chapter).

Again, I'm really sorry.


	14. Meeting : Chapter Thirteen

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Meeting : Chapter Thirteen_  
( "Well, look what the Gummi Ship dragged in!" )_

¤

"So when I found you and Rachelle gone, I was worried. I tried calling your house but your sister answered, and when I asked her if she knew where you were, she started freaking out… Anyways, I was just about to leave Rachelle's place to go to the police—"

"How do you think the _police _would have helped?" Interrupted Alexis, raising her eyebrows. Michael shrugged.

"—but then this very weird green and purple cloud-aura thing started floating around the TV, and these words appeared on the screen—"

"Were they white and kind of fancy-looking?" Alexis called out again, eyes widening in excitement. The ebony-haired boy scowled this time.

"Stop interrupting me, would ya?" The girl recoiled slightly from the words, now staring at him in slight awe. "Anyways, as I was saying – these words appeared on the television, and I can't really remember what they were, but it was a question, saying 'Do you wish to find your friends?'." Michael paused. "And of course, I did, so when the words 'YES' and 'NO' appeared there and the Playstation controller glowed, I chose 'YES'…" He trailed off, staring at the ground before continuing again.

"Next thing I know, I was standing in the Castle Chapel, with Lady Maleficent—"

Alexis's eyes narrowed, and she hissed more to herself more than to her companion. "Since when has she been called 'Lady'?"

Apparently not hearing, the boy went on with his story. "—and she made an offer to me: she could help me find you and Rachelle, or I could go back to our world."

"And you chose to accept her help?" Ended the blonde, a frown tugging at the edge of her lips. Michael nodded. "But what did she want in return?"

He laughed, as if the fact was nonsense. "Lady Maleficent? Why, she wanted nothing. In fact, she _gave _me **power**!" He took out the large sword strapped across his back excitedly and laid it flat on the ground. "This sword, Onyx Shadow, she gave it to me so I could protect you two!"

The frown became apparent on her face as she held the sword to further examine it. The name Onyx Shadow fit it well; the handle was thin and long, with many curving designs that felt odd in her hands, and the blade began with two sharp dagger-like points on both sides of the handle. The blade itself was ¼ longer than the handle, and bore the same designs in the center, as the outside was left blank.

True to its name, the sword was complete black, with dark parts of grey here and there.

Alexis handed Onyx Shadow back to its owner, who in turn strapped it onto his back again. "But how about the time when I first saw you? You were completely covered in blood."

Michael waved away her question nonchalantly. "I was just doing some training." Alexis was just about to exclaim on the topic of what _kind _of training he was doing, when the door opened and Riku stepped in partway, his lower body-half still outside.

"Maleficent wants to see you, Michael." He said emotionlessly, leaning fully on the door as the teen stood up and dusted himself off.

"I'll see you later, Alexis!" Michael called back cheerily, smiling and nodding at Riku as he passed, fully disappearing in the darkness of the hall a few minutes later. His footsteps echoed loudly as the Riku shut the door, going to sit on his bed and watching Alexis on the floor out of the corners of his eyes.

"So how was it?" He asked, leaning against some of the pillows and cocking his head curiously. Alexis shrugged but kept silent, causing a frown to settle on the silver-haired boy's lips. "So he's not locked up after all?"

The blonde shook her head. "No. Turns out that he's been staying in a part of the castle the whole time." She paused, leaning her head on the bed behind her as she sat back. "But why would Maleficent tell me he's kept up prisoner?"

"Maybe she wanted you to think that so you would do what they said," he put in, playing with some of the strings coming off at the edges of the blanket. "After all, you did do just that."

"And he called her 'Lady Maleficent', Riku," Suddenly said Alexis, her words slicing through the silence that had just settled. "Since when has Michael – or anyone else, for that matter – called her that?" She clutched at the blanket out of frustration. "What did Maleficent do to him? What kind of 'power' did she freaking give him?"

Riku remained silent, watching the waterfalls outside of the window.

"We're all just puppets in her plan, aren't we?"

He looked at Alexis curiously, but shrugged and smiled bitterly. "Yeah, I guess we are."

"Are you scared?" He frowned.

"Maybe, maybe not." The teen said, avoiding the answer. Alexis remained staring blankly at the ceiling for a few more seconds before turning to look at her companion.

"You know that little voice in your head that tells you everything is going wrong?"

"Fear?"

She nodded. "I can't hear it anymore, Riku. Fore some reason, it's not there."

¤

"DODGE, DAMNIT!" Screeched Rachelle, yanking the steering wheel out of Donald's hands and turning it sharply to the left, causing their ship to barely avoid the on-coming meteor rock.

"What was that for!" Yelled Donald in return, grabbing the wheel back and glaring at the brunette.

"What do you mean 'what was that for'!?" She cried, looking at him with wide eyes. "We were almost made pancake by that rock!" She made motioning figures with her hands, clapping them together in the end loudly. "KA-BOOM-pancake!"

"Uhm, Rachelle?" She turned wildly at the mention of her name, but settled down when she saw Sora standing nervously behind her.

"Yeah?" She asked, running her fingers through her hair and leaning back on the control panel in attempt to fully cool down.

"Are you okay?" The boy asked, looking at her curiously. "I mean," he continued, "Just five minutes ago you were almost full-out crying, then you were yelling like mad at Donald, and now you look calm…" He gulped visibly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Are you, by any chance, um, going through that thing girls through?" He ended weakly, stuttering in some parts of the sentence.

Rachelle stared at him for a few seconds before laughing loudly. "So you're not as clueless as you appear to be!" She looked at him questioningly. "But how do you know about that?"

Sora shrugged, still looking nervous. "Kairi used to just randomly go through mood cycles, so one day we asked her…" He laughed slightly then smiled sheepishly. "So, yeah."

Nodding, the brunette mage continued watching Sora. "So, tell me more about Kairi Riku. I mean, I don't know that much about them and all." She sat down on one of the chairs and Sora followed her example by sitting beside her and tapping his chin in thought.

"Well… We were all best friends," He started. "I knew Riku since I was very little, and then we found Kairi washed up on the beach, and all three of us became friends…" Sora shrugged, putting his hands behind his head in the usual Sora position. "But lately, Riku began telling us his thoughts on all the other worlds – you heard him that evening, right?" Rachelle nodded and he continued. "So we decided to build a raft and sail to all the others worlds out there, and find Kairi's home."

He grinned. "And that's where you an Alexis came in."

"But how were you planning to survive in the middle of the ocean? And you couldn't have been fully sure there were worlds out there – and now you know that the only way to get to them in by Gummi Ship." Rachelle paused in her musings. "What would you have done?"

Sora groaned good-naturedly. "I don't know," He admitted. "Probably would have tried to get back, I guess. But that didn't happen, cause we're here not." He grinned again and leaned back on his chair.

"Alexis, Michael and I…" He looked curiously at Rachelle beside him as she quietly started. "We were best friends since kindergarten, too. We went through that, elementary school and middle school together." She paused in thought. "We were going into high school after the summer break, and it was just a few weeks after Alexis's birthday – it was in April – and Michael was supposed to come to my house with Alexis—"

Rachelle shook her head and grinned at Sora. "And we ended up being on your island."

"But how did you get there?" Asked Sora, his blue eyes wide in wonder. Rachelle laughed nervously.

"We-lll…"

"We're approaching Traverse Town, ha-yuck!"

Mentally thanking Goofy for interrupting their conversation as she was not yet sure as to tell Sora the complete truth or not, the brunette shot up from her seat.

"Great!" She exclaimed, bouncing towards hatch. "We can restock on Potions and we can ask Cid for a new blueprint!"

Laughing, Sora went out behind her as Donald and Goofy secured the ship at the Gummi Port before exiting out as well.

"Cid's still in the Accessory Shop, right?" Asked Donald as they stood in the First District, observing the few people milling around. Nodding and casting a sarcastic look at the duck Rachelle started off towards the flashing building at the top.

"Of course. Where else could he be?" She said, walking around a Moogle wearing a hole in the cement ground by going around in circles seemingly in thought.

"My friends live on the second floor of the Accessory Shop, kupo! They can make cool items, kupo!" He suddenly called out, receiving weird looks from the group. Shrugging to themselves, they continued.

"Well, look what the Gummi Ship dragged in!"

The four turned at the teasing voice, grinning as a happy Yuffie came bouncing up to them, her shuriken flailing widely in her hand. "Hi Yuffie!" Greeted Sora and Rachelle simultaneously while Goofy and Donald opted for waving.

"How're you been?" She asked, stopping in front of them and smiling widely.

"We've been to three different worlds already!" Said Sora proudly, grinning and putting his hands behind his head. "And so far, we've managed to defeat all of the Heartless there!"

Laughing, Rachelle pushed him slightly causing him to wobble. "Stop bragging!" She called teasingly before looking at Yuffie again. "Hey, Cid's still in the shop, right?"

The ninja nodded, twirling a few ninja stars in her fingers. "Yep! Now, if you don't mind me, I hafta go clean out the Third District of the Heartless." She made a face before skipping back and waving cheerily over her shoulder. "It was nice seeing you guys again!"

"Same here!" Called Rachelle, grinning. Shaking her head, she smiled at the trio. "Now, let's go see Cid!" They followed her as she happily made her way up the stairs and threw open the door, causing the man at the counter to curse violently at the action.

"Hiya gramps!" Yelled Sora running over to the counter, all the while grinning. Rachelle followed close behind him, an identical grin on her own face.

"Eh, it's you kids again." Cid grunted, chewing on the stick in his mouth. "What da ya need?"

"Well," Started the brunette girl sweetly. "We were wondering if you knew where we could find a new Gummi Ship, or anybody with a blueprint that could make us one!"

Cid snorted and put his hands on his hip, examining the two before him. "Why do you need a new Ship?"

Sora pouted childishly. "Ours is too small!" He whined and the girl nodded beside him, while Donald and Goofy made themselves comfortable on the couches.

The man frowned and thought for a few seconds. "I suppose I could make you a new Ship, but—" He held up his hand to stop the two teenagers from exclaiming happily. "But, I'll need you to deliver this book here first." He reached under the counter and held up a beat-up book, placing it on the surface carefully.

"It was completely destroyed when the guy brought it, but I managed to fix it up somewhat," He stated proudly as Sora snatched it up. "Deliver it to the guy – he lives past the door with the Fire symbol on the door at the Third District. " He scowled as the Keyblade bearer carelessly tucked it under his arm before running towards the door.

A sudden shock shook the ground, accompanied by a loud 'boing' sounds, startling the occupants of the room out of their wits.

"What was that?" Questioned Sora once it was over, peeking outside curiously. Cid shrugged.

"Probably the bell above the Gizmo Shop. You can check it out, but _after _you deliver that book! –And be careful with it, kid!"

Laughing at the words, Sora nodded and waved before disappearing back into First District.

"So… that door there leads to the Third District, right?" He asked, walking southwest towards the large doors.

"But they're closed!" Sulked Rachelle, kicking them slightly. "Ow!" She cried and bounced on one foot, going around in a circle.

"Maybe you should try that Keyhole over there!" Suggested Goofy suddenly, pointing towards the keyhole-like lock on the side. Shrugging, Sora took out his Keyblade and balancing it with the book still under his right hand, pointed it at the lock. Not surprisingly, a white beam shot out of the tip and straight into the keyhole.

"Well, that settles it!" Said Rachelle as a clicking sound was heard. Putting back down her foot, she slightly wobbled over to the doors and pushed them open. "Sweet!" She called as she found herself standing in the Third District.

"That Keyblade of yours is quite useful!" She said jokingly as Sora came to stand beside her, accompanied by Donald and Goofy. He laughed and stuck out his tongue at her.

"Where's that door Cid was talking about?" He questioned after a few seconds of looking around. Donald pointed out back towards the ramp.

"There was one there!" He squawked before running off, Goofy following him.

"Waiit for us!" Cried Rachelle, running as well. "We have the book, you know!"

"Fire!"

The two teenagers stopped to catch their breath slightly as Donald fired a spell at the door, causing it to flare up and slide open. The inside revealed to be dark and murky, not revealing much to the eye from the outside.

Shrugging to themselves, the group stepped in, wincing slightly as the damp air hit them.

"Who lives here?" Questioned Rachelle, walking over to the slightly green water and scrunching up her nose in disgust at the sight of it.

"Only one way to find out, right?" Called Sora, jumping over to one of the rocks.

_SPLASH._

Spluttering, he came back up to the surface, glaring at his laughing companions. "They move!" He whined, dodging the rock he was previously trying to get on. Swimming over to the land, he stood up and shook his head to get rid of the water.

"Do those things react to motion or something?" Said Rachelle suddenly, picking up a nearby little rock and chucking it in front of her. She whistled slightly when the second tock slab moved. "Woo! I'm smart!" She cried, jumping over to the first rock and flailing around her arms to catch her balance.

"Get some more rocks!" She called back to the group as they each picked up a few, jumping beside the brunette girl.

"And off we go!" Exclaimed Sora, jumping to the second platform. Rachelle came up behind him and almost got them both in the water by grabbing onto his shirt to keep her balance. Smiling cheekily at him, she waited until Donald and Goofy came up beside them.

"Now throw some of the rocks ahead of you!" She commanded, feeling much like an army general. Grinning when the next two slabs moved as well, she jumped over them and stood in front of the final one.

"Land ahoy, mates!" She cried and pretending to look out with a hand over her eyes, imitating a captain.

"You're having too much fun with this," teased Sora as he jumped beside her, looking over at her in amusement. Rachelle nodded happily and turned back to Donald and Goofy.

"Rocks away!" Donald scowled, crossing his arms.

"What are we, your slaves?" He asked angrily, huffing.

"No, but unless you want to end up in that water," Rachelle pointed towards the infected-looking water, "I suggest you throw more rocks!"

Still angry, Donald mumbled some stuff and jumped over to his companions with Goofy, chucking another rock at the final slab. The group jumped onto it and from there to the land, watching the rocks behind them in satisfaction.

"So," started Rachelle, looking back at the little house. "Like I said earlier – I wonder who lives here." Sora shrugged and walked up the stairs, tapping on the boarded up door.

"Um, hello?" He called loudly. "Anybody home?"

"Their door is boarded up, dummy." Said the brunette girl, walking up beside him. "That usually means that they don't want any visitors."

"Well, then why would Cid send us here?" Asked Sora, walking around the outside of the house, looking for any way to get it. He sighed and leaned against a wall when he finished. "HEY!" He exclaimed suddenly as the wall behind fell back, dragging him along with it.

"Sora, that was a curtain," said Rachelle dryly, helping the boy up and looking around their surroundings. "There doesn't seem to be anyone here…" She said after a few minutes, walking over to the center of the room. "We should get back to Cid… Sora?" She turned when she got no response.

"Sora?" Asked Goofy, watching as the boy stared in shock at one of the corners. Shaking his head and turning to grin at them, Sora put his hands behind his head.

"Are you okay?" Asked Rachelle suspiciously. Sora nodded and smiled at her.

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?"

Shrugging, the brunette rolled her eyes. "You were—"

"My, you arrived earlier than I expected!"

The four turned in surprise at the voice as an old, thin man with a white beard and a blue coat on came in, smiling at them.

"Are you a Heartless?" Questioned Sora, but his tone of voice said that he didn't really believe it.

"Me? A Heartless?" The man laughed heartily. "Oh my, no. My name is Merlin," he turned to Goofy and Donald. "Your king asked me to help you."

The duck's and the dog's eyes widened to the size of saucer plates. "King Mickey!?" They exclaimed loudly, guffawing.

Merlin nodded and walked over to the center of the room, only stopping when he spotted Rachelle looking at him curiously. "And who might you be?" He asked.

Rachelle smiled and waved slightly. "I'm Rachelle," she introduced herself, following Merlin with her eyes as he went up the stairs and put down his bag. "So, you're Merlin," she mused. Merlin nodded and looked at her curiously.

"Can I help you with something?" He asked again, taking out his wand. Rachelle nodded.

"I'd like to know if you know the name of my staff."

The wizard smiled and started waving his wand around. "Well then, just a minute, please!" He was slightly hopping from one foot to the other as several objects from the bag flew out and grew to their original size before settling around the room.

In a few minutes, the room was fully furnished and decorated, and a fire burned brightly somewhere. "Oh yes!" Exclaimed Merlin suddenly and turned to the little carriage sitting in the corner. "There is someone I want you to meet!"

The carriage flashed white for a few seconds before a grandmother-ly looking woman with white hair and a blue cloak appeared, smiling warmly. "Hello, dears. I am the Fairy Godmother, and your King asked me to help as well."

"So about the staff of yours," Merlin said, turning to face Rachelle. "May I see it?" She nodded and summoned it, holding it out for the wizard to examine.

"Mm… most interesting…" He mumbled, examining it from all angles. "And what have you been calling it all this time?"

Rachelle shrugged. "Shimmer, why?" Merlin put it back in the girl's hands, smiling guiltily.

"I'm afraid I don't know what it is called, my dear girl." Rachelle shrugged and smiled at him as she dismissed the staff.

"That's fine then, I guess. I've gotten used to calling it Shimmer, anyways." She smiled again and put her hands behind her back as Sora came up with the book.

"Cid asked us to deliver this to you…?" He said uncertainly as Merlin took the book happily.

"Ah, yes! I was afraid it wouldn't be able to get fixed; quite an interesting book, you see." He chuckled and walked over to a little podium beside the curtain. "It's not even mine, this book. It somehow found its way into my bag one day." He turned to the four and smiled. "I'll just leave it over here in case you want to have a read."

"Merlin, what did the King ask you to help us with?" Asked Sora, watching as the wizard went back to the table in the center with a teapot on it.

"Oh, yes, of course. I am to help you with your magic; so if you need any practice, feel free to ask me."

The party nodded and waved as they exited back out outside, but back in the room the Fairy Godmother frowned and looked at Merlin accusingly.

"Why did you not tell her the name of the staff?" She demanded, crossing her arms as Merlin shook his head and sighed.

"She does not need that burden on her right now," he explained slowly, sitting down in his chair and taking a sip of the tea.

"But she will find out sooner or later; you know that." Continued the Fairy, looking crossly at the wizard.

Merlin sighed again and nodded. "Yes, she will. But for now, we shall not worry about it." He held up another teapot. "Tea?"

¤

"I wonder how long it will take Cid to make us a Gummi," pondered Rachelle as they jumped from rock to rock towards the entrance.

"I'd say about a few days," suggested Sora as they made it to the land, wincing slightly from all the bright lights in the Third District as they entered it.

"A few days?" Cried Donald. "We are on a mission—"

"Woah!" Exclaimed Rachelle suddenly, interrupting the duck as two Soldier Heartless appeared in front of them. Summoning their weapons in a battle position, they were just about to strike—

—But the Heartless were destroyed into black wisps before they could even blink.

Sora's eyes widened as the silver-haired teen swung his sword around cockily, smirking at the group. "There you are! What's going on?"

"Riku!" Cried Sora happily and stumbled over to his best friend, putting his fingers in the boy's mouth and tugging them apart in a smile as the older boy swatted them away.

"Hey, hey, cut it out!"

"I'm not dreaming this time…" Said the brunette, looking over his friend. "Right?"

Riku smiled slightly and ran a hand through his hair. "I hope not. Took forever to find you."

Both boys laughed slightly, but Sora suddenly stopped and frowned. "Wait a second, where's Kairi?"

Riku tensed up for a few seconds and looked at the ground before looking back up at Sora. "Isn't she with you?" Sora hung his head in answer. "Well, don't worry," Riku continued. "I'm sure she made it off the island too." He walked past Sora and looked around the District.

"We're finally free," he said as in in awe, spreading out his hands to show his point. "Hey, she might be even looking for us now. We'll all be together again soon. Don't worry, just leave everything to me. I know this—"

A loud sound interrupted his little speech as Sora destroyed the Shadow Heartless behind his friend with a smirk.

"Leave it to who?" He asked teasingly, swinging his Keyblade behind his head.

"Sora," started Riku confusedly, walking over to him. "What did you--?"

"I've been looking for you," the brunette explained. "And Kairi too. With their help." Riku turned his attention towards Donald, Goofy and Rachelle. He nodded slightly at the brunette.

"Who are they?" Riku asked, referring towards the magician and the defender.

"Ahem," started Donald cockily. "My name is—"

"We've visited so many places and worlds, looking for you!" Sora interrupted him.

Riku smirked. "Really? Who would have known? I never would have guessed." He teased.

"Oh, guess what?" Suddenly said Goofy, putting his paw-like hands on Sora's shoulders. "Sora is the Keyblade Master."

"Who would have thought it," said Donald from beside them.

"What's that mean?" Exclaimed Sora, turning to glare at the duck.

"So… this is called a Keyblade?" Rachelle raised her eyebrows as she continued watching Riku swing the weapon around.

"Huh?" Sora looked at his hands in confusion, and once finding the Keyblade gone, looked back at Riku. "Hey! Give it back!" He ran towards the teen, but tripped on a rock and fell as Riku continued examining the Keyblade.

"Catch." He suddenly said blankly, throwing it towards the brunette boy.

"Whoa!" Mumbled Sora, stumbling slightly as the item made contact with his hands.

"So you're coming with us, right?" Piped up Rachelle as she came to stand beside him. Sora nodded.

"We've got this awesome rocket — wait till you see it!"

"No! He can't come!" They turned in shock at Donald's exclamation and Sora flinched.

"What!?" He cried, leaning down to look at the duck and stomping his foot.

"Forget it!" Protested Donald, glaring at him.

"Oh, come on!" Whined Sora. "He's my friend!"

"I don't care," said the magician slowly, crossing his arms.

Rachelle scowled, glaring daggers at the duck. Her scowl was replaced by a frown, though, as she turned at the light sound of footsteps behind her.

"Uh, guys?" She called to the arguing group, watching the shadows in the district for any movement. "He's gone."

"Riku?" Called out Sora, and Rachelle was humorously reminded of her encounter with Alexis.

"Nice going," Growled Sora, walking forward slightly and putting his hand behind his head. "Oh well. At least we know he's okay. And who knows, maybe we'll run into Kairi soon, too!"

Rachelle shrugged and rubbed one of her shoulder uncomfortably. "Something's not right," she mumbled to herself as their party continued on to find Cid. "Alexis appearing then disappearing, now Riku?" She groaned quietly. "I swear they're in this together…"

"Oh yeah!"

They turned at Sora's exclamation. "There's the Gizmo Shop bell, right? Why don't we check it out?"

"Sure. Cid can wait, I guess." Shrugged Rachelle, following the Keyblade Master as he walked towards the Second District door, his Keyblade swinging behind him.

¤

Alexis turned at the sound of the door opening as Riku came in, a frown etched onto his face.

"What's up?" She asked cheerily as he settled himself on his bed. "How did your meeting with Sora go?" She winced as Riku scowled. "Not good, eh?"

He shook his head. "He's apparently replaced me," the teen said bitterly, glaring at the floor.

Alexis frowned. "Replaced you? With who? –And who told you that?" She sighed when her roommate remained quiet and got up from where she was sitting on the floor, waling over to sit beside the boy. Touching his shoulder slightly, she asked again. "Who told you that?"

Riku smiled sheepishly. "Maleficent… but it's true!" He hung his head. "He's replaced me with those new friends of his."

"Rachie would never do that, Riku." The blonde said quietly from beside him, shaking his shoulder a little. "Come on, snap out of it. Do you think Sora would _really _do that?" She paused. "And even though I've known him for a few days and you've known him your whole life, I can already see that he's a bit… slow. I don't think he's fully understood what's happening yet." When Riku remained silent again, she pouted childishly.

"Come on, cheer up!" She cried, peering down to look at his face. "I'll glomp you if you don't!" She grinned when she saw the small smile on the teen's face and moved back on the bed. "You can't believe _everything _that old witch says!"

Riku shrugged and went to sit beside the girl. "How can you be so cheerful?" He asked teasingly and Alexis shrugged in answer.

"Just like you can be so calm and moody!" She said, poking his arm. Laughing, Riku rolled over and buried his head in the pillows.

"Now get off my bed," he said half-jokingly. "I'm tired and I want to sleep."

Alexis poked him in the arm one more time and grinned, jumping off and walking over to her own bed. "Okay, good night!"

¤

"_Oh? What's this?" Antonia's pink eyes widened slightly as the glowing crystal flowed over closer to her. Opening her palm, she smiled slightly as the crystal seemingly twitched and shied away from her. "Fear, mm?" She gently cupped her hands over the pink heart shard as it trembled inside and walked quietly over to her desk where a glass jar stood. Dumping the shard lightly inside, she screwed the lid back on. _

"_Don't worry, Miss Alexis, I'll take good care of your Fear." She giggled as the light dimmed then grew bright again. "But, Miss Alexis, how will you live without Fear?"_

* * *

a/n: whee. Long chapter. X3 I hope you enjoyed it and what do you guys think of the new summary? I'm adding Mystery as another genre.

And I am shying away from Rachelle to Alexis. –sighs- But she's just so fun to write about, with her being on the 'dark side' and all. But Rachelle _is _very important in the plot, so if there are any Rachelle Fans out there, you'll be happy to know that more Rachelle-based chapters will be coming in the future. –smiles-

Please review!


	15. Intermission : Dream

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Light in your Darkness, Darkness in our Light : Intermission_  
("Light…Keyblade?")_

¤

"—_Keyblade."_

_Alexis blinked sleepily as she found herself in the white room once again, the man still sitting on his white and silver throne, his cheek held up by his hand as he leaned on one of the arm-rests._

"_What?"_

_But no, something was wrong. The room – something was happening with it. It was blurring then coming back into focus in numerous places, and either it was the girl's imagination – but were those **shadows **in the corner? And LK; the smug look he always wore no longer was there. Instead, it was replaced – by worry!?_

_Alexis now knew that something was definitely wrong. _

"_You wanted to know who I was, did you not?" He asked, raising an eyebrow gracefully and closing his eyes wearily. _

"_Keyblade? What do you mean by that, though?" She asked, resting a hand on one hip and glaring at him in curiosity and frustration. LK sighed, though his eyes remained closed._

"_Remember what I told you at our last meeting, little light." Alexis frowned in thought for a few seconds before raising her eyes to his face again slowly._

"_Light…Keyblade?" She asked, watching as the blonde man opened his eyes and smiled eerily. _

"_Correct."_

"_But what **is **a 'Light Keyblade'?" LK's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he leaned forward slightly._

"_You mean to tell me you've been with the darkness all this time, and they have **not told you what it is**?" He exclaimed incredulously, and his eyes widened. _

_Alexis crossed her arms sheepishly and shrugged. "Am I supposed to know what it is?" Groaning and passing his palm over his face, LK muttered a few words before looking at the girl again._

"_The Light Keyblade," he started, "Is a mighty legendary weapon of the Realm of Light. Every occurrence of spreading darkness, it chooses a wielder and the said wielder saves the worlds from the darkness. In fact, currently, Maleficent – the very woman you are working for – is currently trying to rid of the current wielder."_

_Alexis blinked a few times and frowned again, deciding that this conversation, in fact, was quite serious. "But why would Maleficent need Riku and I?" _

_LK sighed again and leaned back on the chair. "You have not figured it out yet, have you?" He eyed her lazily, scrutinizing. "It is obvious that your dear spiky-haired boy is the current wielder."_

"…"

_He raised his head at her blank stare. "Hm?"_

"…_WHAT THE HELL?" She suddenly screeched, making the man wince as the sound vibrated off the walls. "Sora – Sora is the damn wielder!?"_

_Nodding, LK watched in slight amusement as the teenager spazzed. _

"_B-but that means Maleficent is trying to get rid of **Sora** and—" She abruptly stopped and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the sitting male. "Wait a sec… you said you were the Light Keyblade? How's that possible?"_

_His laugh filled the empty room as he threw back his head in merriment. "My dear, dear little light," he chuckled humorously. "I am simply the **essence **of the Keyblade, and I appear before you now in the form you would see me if I were to be human." He chuckled again at the confused look on the blonde girl's face._

"_O-kay…" she murmured, blinking stupidly. Shaking her head to rid of the whirling thoughts currently flowing through her head, she looked again around the room. "So Mr. Light Keyblade… what's going on?" Alexis spread her hands to emphasize her point. Immediately, the essence scowled. _

"_My light is being tainted, that's what," he ground out through his scowl, his eyes fleeting around the shadows for a few seconds before settling on Alexis again. "And I'm sorry to say it has been caused by your friend, my dear."_

"_My…friend?" She questioned confusedly before looking up at him. "You mean Rachelle?" When he nodded, she crossed her arms and stared at the floor in thought. "But how can Rachelle cause this?"_

_He sighed. "The darkness in the girl's heart is settling over the wielder, and thus causing me – and him, in that matter – to loose my powers."_

_Alexis's head snapped up as she stared at him. "Darkness in Rachelle's heart? She has that much of it?" She struggled with her words for a few seconds. "I mean, I know that everybody has darkness in their hearts, but shouldn't that be not affecting Sora?"_

_LK shook his head. "Unfortunately, when I brought her as well you here, I did not realize that this might open your hearts to complete darkness, and further explore it…" He trailed of and sighed again._

"_So you mean this is all your fault?" Snapped the blonde, tapping her foot and glaring at him. He scowled at her haltingly and fidgeted in his throne-like chair. _

"_As I said, you both already had darkness, and it was a chance that one of yours may or may not have fully appear." Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair. _

"_So, does Rachie know of this?" She asked, twirling a lock of hair in between her fingers. _

"_In fact, she does not. She is still quite oblivious to it, but it will show itself to her soon, whether any of us like it or not." Alexis nodded in understanding, frowning as a memory suddenly hit her._

"_When I arrived here…" She started curiously. "I overheard Maleficent and someone else talking… they said that they got 'the wrong one'. Did they mean they wanted Rachelle, but instead got me?" Light Keyblade essence nodded and blew a stray bang out of his eyes. _

"_When they sent Heartless to the Islands, their main points were to capture Riku as well as Rachelle." He smiled wryly. "But as you can see, they half-failed." _

"_I see…" The girl muttered, kicking the floor with her foot. "Can I ask more questions? …I mean, you haven't really answered mine before." He laughed and nodded. _

"_Shoot."_

_Nodding, Alexis poked her glasses from sliding off her nose and looked at the essence. "What I guess… I want to know… is what is going on." She paused for a few seconds, staring at him. "You brought us here, so you should have the answers; correct?" _

_He nodded before settling comfortably into the chair. "Just a few weeks ago, I have sensed a new threat. This time, it was not from the Heartless or Maleficent – it was from the world you know as Earth." He held up his hand and the girl shut her mouth, quieting as he continued. "Even now, I do not fully know who or what is causing the danger, but nonetheless, at that time, I suspected that I needed the help from two people from the very planet it came from._

"_You two happened to be the first ones I stumbled upon, and as much as I hated to have random people here, there was no choice, as the threat grew in power. There was no time to act, and I had to get you two in. I sent you into the Awakening I put Sora in to see if he was truly worthy, and you were able to get your weapons there as well." He smiled as Alexis summoned Ragnarok, holding it out on front of her and looking at it in a new light._

"_You appeared on Destiny Islands just a few days before I knew Maleficent would try and succeed to overtake it, wanting you to meet your new companions. You did not get along as well as I would have liked—" Here Alexis cracked a grin, recalling her first few moments with Riku. "—But it did not turn into a catastrophe as well." _

"_And then Maleficent captured me and Riku, and now Rachelle and Sora are traveling together." Ended Alexis for him, nodding. "Do you know what will happen now?"_

LK shook his head sadly. "No. My power only goes as far as to sensing danger approach."

"_Oh."_

_Both figures frowned, caught up in their own thoughts. Suddenly, Alexis broke the silence. "Do you know what is happening to me?" She questioned, a slightly demanding tone entering her voice. The male of the two raised his brow and nodded._

"_You mean you having no feeling of Fear no longer?" She nodded, looking slightly worried. "Do you remember your first fight with the Shadow?" Alexis grimaced at the memory, still feeling humiliated for being defeated that easily. LK smiled slightly. "Well, I don't know if you noticed, but there was a feeling of something being taken from you."_

_The blonde was just about to nod again when she suddenly snapped her head up and glared accusingly at him. "How do you know all of this? Are you a stalker?"_

_He chuckled and shook his head. "Of course not. I have just been observing you." He smiled peacefully as she continued to glare at him. Waving his hand for her to settle down, he continued. "At that moment, a shard of your heart was taken from you, but as the Heartless was immediately destroyed, the piece was unable to stay within the body of the Shadow and disappeared to where you, yourself, loved being."_

_Alexis blinked at him once, maybe twice, before putting her finger to her chin and tapping it in thought. "Where I love being? I guess that's Earth, right now. But where exactly…?" LK shrugged in answer at the slightly intended question. _

"_That, my dear little light, remains unknown to me as well." Scowling, Alexis crossed her arms again._

"_Why do you keep calling me that?" She whined._

"_Oh? I thought you did not notice?" He teased, watching in entertainment as she stomped her foot childishly._

"_No, but really. Why are you calling me that?" He shrugged again and leaned back on the chair further._

"_Just as there is darkness within ever light—"_

"_Rachelle and Sora, right?"_

"—_There is light within every darkness." Frowning – that seems the only thing I do here now, Alexis thought dryly – she looked tat his form in confusion._

"_So you mean that in all the darkness that is in Hallow Bastion, I am the only light?" Her frown increased at his nod. "But what about Riku—wha?" _

_The whole room suddenly blurred, causing the girl to stumble in surprise. "What's going on?" She yelled as the floor beneath her suddenly rippled as if water, sending her falling._

"_It seems that this **is **the last time I will be seeing you for the time being," mused LK, sitting calmly in his chair and stroking his chin. "Neverless, I have words of advice for you: Your silver-haired friend is slowly turning to the darkness, little light. If you want him to stay the same, I suggest you do everything in your power to stop it."_

"_Wait!" Cried Alexis, calling out as his form wavered as well. "I have more questions!"_

_The last thing she saw was his usual smile – but was that a grain of worry in there?_

¤

"AH!"

Alexis awoke with a yell, shooting up in her bed and trying to untangle the sheets around her body. Cursing as she fell ungracefully to the floor, she turned her head as a voice blinked on sleepily from her side.

"Alexis? What are you doing on the floor?"

Scowling at the teenager as he watched half-sleepily half-amusingly as she somehow managed to rid herself of the cloth keeping her captive, she stalked over to him and leaned down to his face level.

"You!" She growled, stabbing a finger to his chest for emphasis. Riku raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Riku, if you ever turn to darkness, I _swear _I'll kick your butt!" He rose fully from his bed as Alexis plopped down beside him, glaring.

"Alexis, it's—" He looked over to the clock on the wall before turning back to her. "—it's 5 AM; what are you doing up so early? And let me sleep." He ended with a whine, attempting to dive back under his blankets, only to be pulled back as Alexis gripped onto his pajama t-shirt, turning him to face her.

"Don't you _ever _think about turning to Darkness, buddy-boy." She hissed before getting off and trudging back to her own bed, slipping under the covers and burying her head in the pillows.

Riku raised his eyebrows behind her again. "Okay, you're obviously not in a right mood." He muttered to no one before turning back to his pillows as well, falling asleep. "Besides, why would I ever turn to darkness… right?"

A/n: …I managed to get it out by Valentine's Day. –blinks- Now, though, I wanna write different fluff, but nothing really romantic is happening in the story right now, so there are gonna be spoilers. –sighs- Anyways, concerning this chapter, it's a sorts of filler chapter as well, but a lot of things have been explained (I think) including how Rachelle will be important later. And I've also found out that I am _not _good with writing about two main characters; so right now, I'm focusing more on Alexis and Riku in Hallow Bastion – Sora, Rachelle and co. will be in the chapters, don't worry – and then focus solely on Rachelle as her 'story' unfolds. But as for sequels and such, I'm afraid I'll have to use only one of the girls. ;-;

So; Alexis, or Rachelle?

Your votes will help me decide, but obviously, it's not that important right now, but yeah. XD

Please review!


	16. Valentine's Special : RikuxAlexis

**Note: Contains SLIGHT SPOILERS (RikuOC). Do not read unless you already know who Riku's going to end up with (which I'm sure you already do) or if you just don't want to know if the OCs are going to live or whatever.**

**Now, onto the story!**

* * *

_Valentine's Day Special:  
Riku x Alexis  
Pointless Fluff_

--

"Let's see… what should I do?" Pondered Alexis, cocking her head in thought as she walked down Destiny Island's Central Square, watching boringly as various people stumbled past her. Sighing, she turned her eyes to the sky and winced as some of the sun's rays hit her glasses, causing her to look back down.

A frown etched onto her mouth as a couple walked by happily, giggling together over something unknown to her. "It's Valentine's Day, and he's left me all alone." She pouted this time, crossing her arms as she stumbled past one of her favourite fountains on the islands, uncurling them for a few seconds to glide her fingers over the cold texture of the stone bird.

"Figures. He's never been much of a romantic." Walking over to a flower stand, she gladly picked up one of the free Hibiscus flowers and twirled it by the green stem it was connected to, fingering the leaves with a finger. Shrugging, she ignored the slightly incredulous looks people were giving to her as she continued musing out loud to herself.

"But still – he should know that to some girls – including me – this day is special." Heading towards a narrow alleyway that was a known shortcut to her leading the beach, she sighed. "Riku, you're being mean."

"I prefer the word 'mysterious', Lex."

Whipping around fast at the voice, she let out a slight 'meep' of surprise before settling down and glaring half-heartedly at the silver haired boy leaning on a wall behind her. Curiosity got the best of her, though, as she resumed her usual persona.

"Where've you been?" She asked, tucking the flower into the pocket on her hoodie and crossing her arms behind her back.

Riku shrugged. "Here and there." He smiled slightly as she rolled her eyes at the non-too-answering answer.

"Have you been hiding out here all day? Cause if you ditched me to stand against a wall, I'll seriously hate you." He outright laughed at the statement and shook his head.

"No, I have not been here all day." He smiled teasingly at her. "The wall is not that attractive, anyways."

Rolling her eyes again behind her glasses, Alexis waved her hand nonchalantly before turning and heading to her previous destination. She ignored the light footsteps that echoed after her, signaling Riku was walking as well. Shielding her eyes as they emerged from the dark of the alley and into the light of the beach, she kicked off her shoes and picked them up to keep from sinking too much into the sand before walking calmly towards the ocean.

"So, what were you planning to do today?" She shrugged as Riku came to stand beside her in the water, bare-footed as well.

"I was planning to hang out with you," here she shot him a slight glare. "But obviously, you weren't anywhere." Stumbling back a little as a wave hit her ankles, she threw her shoes onto the shore before wading in further, putting the flower previously clutched loosely in her hand onto the water and watching as it floated away.

"I wonder if someone will get it," she mused to no one, glancing up at the older teenage boy as he came to stand with her again. He shrugged.

"Who knows? Maybe they will, maybe they won't."

She sighed. "True. But again, I wonder… if it floats out far enough, will it reach another world?" She sighed again as Riku grudgingly winced at the mention. "You… really don't want to go back, do you?"

"…"

The blonde smiled, poking him lightly in the arm. "Okay, I get the hint."

"…Do you want to?" She shrugged at the question, turning to look back at the ocean.

"I guess. I'm never too satisfied with staying in one place, and Destiny Islands…" She laughed suddenly, covering her mouth to stop the giggles. "This is not my type of life."

Riku frowned, looking at the shorter girl out of the corner of his eye. "It was not mine as well, and you saw how that ended up." He turned in surprise as Alexis suddenly growled.

"Okay, buddy." She started, turning to face him and putting her hands on her hips. "Yes, I know what happened. I may regret some of the stuff that happened, and I know you regret more than half, but that's past. And now that I can fight, there is no way I am letting you turn back to the darkness, and you should really stop being all 'Dark Boy'—why are you laughing?" Her anger turned once again to curiosity as she watched his form shake with merriment.

Sighing happily suddenly, he swung an arm around the girl's shoulders, pulling him closer to her. "And who says that if another adventure was to happen, you would be coming?" He teased, ruffling her hair with his other hand as she tried to wiggle away from it.

"I'm coming, Riku, and there's not a chance of you stopping me!" She yelled humorously, finally managing to pull away as he continued laughing. She cocked an eyebrow. "What is it with you today and with all the laughing?"

Stopping his chuckling, the silver haired boy crossed his arms and looked at his companion. "Today's been a good day, that's all." Alexis huffed and crossed her arms as well, turning to look back out towards the water.

"You ditched me, and you call that a good day?" She said half-sourly.

"Hey, Alexis…" She turned at his sudden change and tone and watched as he stared up at the sky.

"Yeah?"

"You know, there's this legend, that says if you put out a flower in the water, the person that catches it is your 'one true love'." The blonde blinked at him for a few seconds before turning away in thought.

"…Really—huh?"

She blinked again twice as a Hibiscus flower was put under her nose. Her eyes trailed up the fingers holding it up the arm, up all the way to Riku's smiling face. She took the flower gingerly back into her hands and fingered the wet petals slightly before looking back up at the teen.

"So… does that mean you're my 'one true love', as you put it?" She asked, staring innocently up at him. When he raised and lowered one shoulder still smiling, she leaned in closer to him and smiled slightly. "But am _I _your one true love?"

"Maaaybe." Riku tugged out the word, touching his forehead to the girl's. He looked at her in surprise as she suddenly pulled away, twirling in the water and laughing slightly. "What?" He asked in confusion as she turned to him again, smiling impishly.

"Maaaybe I'm happy," she teased, imitating him. Laughing again, she walked back to him. "And by the way, I know there's no legend such as that, Riku. So, why'd you make it up?"

He shrugged. "You looked kind of sad walking in the Central Square all alone, and when you bought the flower, I decided that you definitely needed cheering up…hm?"

Silence. Then—

"…Were you stalking me?"

"…"

"You were, weren't you! Stalker!"

A laugh.

"But as people say – I'm _your _stalker. …Quite literally, too."

* * *

a/n: …I wanted to do a Valentine's oneshot. Hah. This is completely irrelevant to the main story, and will probably never happen soon. Sorry for not much of the fluff; I'm not good at that, and I didn't want to make it too sappy. –shrugs- Oh, well. I hope you liked it. : )

Happy Valentine's Day!


	17. Just Promise : Chapter Fourteen

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

_Just Promise : Chapter Fourteen  
("No, idiot. It's a piece of advice and a warning for the future." )_

¤

She looked about the room nervously, playing with strands of her blonde hair. Either it was her imagination, or the Castle Chapel seemed to be much brighter when there were no evil beings plotting to hurt your best friend along with a new-made friend.

"You wanted to see me?"

And all that light was gone as a lone figure entered.

Nodding weakly, she tugged at her hair one more time before straightening herself. "Yes." She paused uncertainly in her words and Maleficent raised an eyebrow.

"What is it, girl? I do not have the whole day to wait."

Shifting her weight from one foot to another and feeling like the biggest fool in the worlds, Alexis averted her eyes from the floor and up to the witch's face.

"Maleficent… what are you planning to do with Riku?"

The words stumbled out hurriedly and did not sound as demanding as she would have liked, but they still earned an interested look from the being.

"Do to him, my dear girl?" Maleficent's laugh echoed eerily around the cold walls, and the young blonde could only shift unnervingly until it ended. "Why, what do you think I will do to him?"

"…Whatever you did to Michael." Her words were becoming stronger now; having no fear proved to be useful in times.

In others, foolishness simply replaced it.

"Oh?" The crow on her shoulder cawed threateningly, flapping its black wings before settling down and cocking its head in a suspicious stare. "And exactly what did I do to your friend?" Maleficent continued, watching as Alexis growled in front of her.

"I don't know what you did to him, Maleficent, but whatever it was, it's not Michael!" She finally burst out, throwing all caution – as if she really had any – to the wind and glaring heatedly at the woman. "'Lady Maleficent'?" She spat out venomously, eyes glinting behind her framed glasses. "And accepting darkness? What type of _fool _would ever do that—AGH!"

She was caught off in surprise as a flame of acid-green shot out of the floor, sending the girl flying to the nearby concrete wall and sliding down it, wincing in pain from the contact.

"Do not mess in what is not your concern."

She glared at her attacker again as said woman strode swiftly towards her fallen form, looking quite malevolent in the darkness reflecting off the room. "Michael _is _my concern!" Cried out Alexis, struggling to sit up. "And so is Riku!" Ragnarok suddenly flashed into her hand as she used it to pull herself up before pointing it threateningly towards the towering figure in front of her.

Maleficent's frozen laugh shook the room once more before her eyes reverted back to her companion. "Do you truly think you would be able to defeat me as you are now?" She questioned in amusement, and Alexis lowered the sword grudgingly before willing it to disappear.

"You are far too weak, girl. 'What type of fool', as you so generously put it, would attack me in your current state?"

Glowering once more, Alexis bowed stiffly to Maleficent – as she was taught just a few days ago – and strode towards the exit to the High Tower, where her Lift was awaiting. The witch's next words, however, caught her off-guard.

"As for the boy – if I were you, I'd watch out for him, my dear. You never know when disaster may strike."

She left the room, leaving a slightly confused and put-off Alexis staring blankly outside.

¤

"So… this is it?"

Cid nodded proudly as the four heroes – junior heroes – stared at the ship in front of them.

"It's…" Started Rachelle, having Sora finish for her.

"Big?"

Donald and Goofy nodded beside them, and Rachelle turned accusingly to the mechanist.

"Are you sure this is a Gummi Ship, and not a flying house?" She asked, prodding a finger over her shoulder at the ship towering behind her. Cid growled at her.

"If you don't like it, well, that's your problem, then. I have no plans on remaking – or making another – ship for you." Sora scratched his head uncertainly.

"But uh, Cid, where did you get all this stuff?" Said man nodded stiffly towards a storage door bulging with the items inside, which the four somehow failed to notice earlier.

"You think clerk is my real job, kid?" Cid questioned, chewing on his stick as he shook his head. Sora shrugged, turning and walking back to the ship, following after Rachelle as she jumped inside.

"Woah!" She exclaimed once stepping foot inside. "This place doesn't just look big; it is grand!"

The Keyblade-wielder stood behind her, gaping at the cabin they entered in awe. "…Where did Cid get all this _furniture_?" The girl raised and lowered one shoulder, already running around the panels.

"It comes with the Gummi Blocks?" She joked, plopping down happily on one of the two white couches, already holding the remote to the TV plastered to the ceiling.

"There are more rooms here!" She jumped off, though, as Sora yelled, walking down a hallway she failed to notice before. Grinning, she raced after him, throwing open a pair of doors as she hurried past them.

"Bedrooms? How many will we need?" She questioned after looking in on a fifth room, consisting of a color scheme – each room had their own, and this one just happened to be sea-green – a semi-wide bed with matching sheets, a dresser and a closet, along with a comfy-looking large white chair and a carpet laid out before her feet. Raising her eyebrows, Rachelle looked at it in wonder.

"And how is all of this going to stay in place once we're in flight?" She mused, checking under the bed and carpet, confirming her suspicions of it being screwed to the floor. "Yep, safety: check."

Going down further, she opened two more doors to a normal-sized bathroom with a shower and bathtub – "Wouldn't the water splash out?" she asked no one in particular upon the sight – along with a sink and a toilet. A kitchen and an adjoining dining room made of wood were revealed as well as she traveled again.

She walked further down to the last door down the corridor's length, peering in to see Sora happily bouncing on a blue bed.

"Blue, of course." She rolled her eyes teasingly as she looked quickly around the ocean-blue walls, closet and drawers and same carpet as before, as well as another chair. "We're in a hotel, don't you think?" She asked cheerily, plopping down on the bed and causing the fourteen to stop jumping.

"A cool one at that!" He exclaimed happily. "Which room are you going to take as your own?"

Rachelle shrugged. "There's the red, light green, dark green, blue, ocean-green – what's up with all this green? – and an orange. So… I guess I'll take the red one." She shrugged again. "But what are we gonna do with all the ones we're not using?"

"I dunno…storage?"

"Well, we'll have time to think about that. First, we should get all of our supplies into here—oh, and thank Cid, I guess." Nodding in confirmation, the two teens set back out, coming in on a chatting Cid, Donald and Goofy.

"So, what did you think of it?" Asked Cid once he spotted them, running his hand under his nose in the Cid manner.

Rachelle grinned. "It's awesome! Thanks!" She paused suddenly and leered curiously at him. "But why did you make us such a big one?"

The blonde man shrugged. "It's been far too long since I have been giving an assignment, and old instincts have kicked up again." The brunette nodded.

"And on another note; how are all the things going to stay in one place? I saw some of the furniture secured to the ground, but isn't there stuff like food that can easily slide down?"

Cid waved his hand at her. "Magic in the Gummis, I tell ya. Now, it's my guess you should be going unless you want to be left behind."

She looked at him in confusion before turning behind her. "Wha?" She growled once she saw the ship preparing to launch itself, with Donald clearly visible at the controls. "HEY!" She yelled, already running towards the door. "Wait for me, damnit!"

Cid chuckled as she left him in the dust. "Kids."

¤

"Where've you been?"

Alexis dodged the tennis ball thrown at her courtesy of Riku as she entered their room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

"Here and there," she answered nonchalantly, inwardly wincing as her back muscles screamed for attention. Limping over to her bad, she gladly fell down onto it with a loud sigh.

Riku frowned at the secrecy as it was not usually the girl's personality, but dismissed it anyways. Turning back to his book, he waited for the blonde to say something, as she always did.

…

He was met by silence? Riku raised his eyebrows and turned towards Alexis again. "You've changed," he said, watching as she rolled from her back to her stomach, looking at him curiously.

"You think?" She asked, putting her chin in her hands and he shrugged.

"Sure. I mean, I haven't known you for too long; in fact, I've only known you for a few days now, but you seem different." She chuckled sheepishly.

"I guess spending time with a group of villains who conquer worlds can change a person," she joked, but the silver-haired teen shot her a slight glare.

"Don't kid about that," he muttered more to himself before shaking his head lightly and looking back up at her. "Say, Alexis, what was your home world like?"

She blinked a few times, looking up at the ceiling in thought. "Well," she started. "It was made up of many, many places, almost like worlds of their own. Almost every little world – they were called countries – was different, whether it was the language they spoke, the scenery, and all that stuff." She paused. "And the whole world – the planet Earth – was mostly made up of water, much like your Islands were."

Seeing him suddenly tense up at the mention of his home, she peered at him curiously. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing," Riku said hurriedly, seemingly wanting to avoid the subject at all matters. "What was it like where you lived?"

Shrugging, Alexis continued, easily recalling her past life. "I lived in this one country called Canada, in one of the cities close to the ocean." She sighed longingly, boringly tracing circles on the blanket with a finger while her other hand supported her head. "I lived close to my school, too. Rachelle, Michael and I were neighbors, along with this one guy, Justin—" she smiled suddenly, giggling into her hand. "—Rachie and him like each other, I'm sure – and he had the most adorable little sister, though…" She frowned here. "She was a little weird."

"Weird?" Asked Riku, looking up at her in confusion. Alexis nodded.

"In where I'm from, unless you're a senior, you don't have natural hair the color of yours. But this girl – her name was Antonia – had the most pure white hair. And her eyes…" she shuddered abruptly. "…they were a natural pink. Rachie and I thought she was slightly weird, because, well, when you looked at her, all you saw was innocent and childishness. But when you looked closely, we noticed that there was a way that she carried herself – as if she wasn't an eight-year-old, but someone who was wise and… what's the word I'm looking for? Old?"

The blonde girl shrugged again. "We tried telling Justin that, but he just laughed and said we were imagining things." Alexis sighed. "He actually reminds me of Sora – or rather, the other way."

Riku smiled slightly. "How so?"

"Well, both are carefree and have a childish innocence around themselves, and can cheer people up." She smiled, looking up into Riku's eyes suddenly. "You are very lucky to have a friend such as Sora, Riku. Make sure you don't loose him." Her smile widened and she cocked her head, watching him slightly-eerily. "Right?"

The silver-haired-boy flinched slightly for a few seconds before looking back down to his book. "You've defiantly changed."

Alexis laughed at the reaction. "I prefer to think I've gotten smarter."

He let out a grunt and flipped the page. "I've one more question for you, though."

She shrugged. "Shoot."

"On the islands, you said something about you being in a video game," he peeked at her from the corners of his eyes. "Explanation?"

She laughed again, rolling back onto her back and ignoring the pain rippling across her backside. "You'd best forget that, at least for now, Riku—huh?"

Riku looked up as she ended her sentence suddenly, looking in confusion at her gloved hand as she held it up to her face. "What's wrong?" He asked, and she turned to him, frowning.

"Riku, do you know what was the color of the flowers on my gloves?" He gave her a funny look and nodded uncertainly.

"They were green, weren't they?"

"_Light _green," Alexis corrected, taking off her other glove to examine it as well.

"Why do you ask?"

She turned towards him again, throwing one glove for him to catch. "See for yourself," she muttered, still peering at the one left in her hold.

Dodging slightly out of his way as Riku tried to catch the glove – the girl's aim was not all that good – he looked at it closely. His eyes widened and he looked on confusion to his companion, who in turn was looking at him.

"I thought you said they were light green?"

She nodded, stretching to catch the glove as he threw it back. "They _were._"

Riku frowned. "But why are they dark green now?" She glared at him.

"You think I know?" She snapped, causing him to recoil slightly and snort.

"Sor-ry."

Silence dawned as either went to ponder their thoughts or read their book. In Alexis's case, it was her thoughts. An idea suddenly came to her and she turned to Riku questioningly.

"Riku, what happens when a light starts to darken?"

He raised his head at the question, blinking in confusion and shrugging.

"I dunno. It keeps darkening and its appearance changes?" He joked, but was stopped as Alexis frowned. "Was this what you were talking about last night – this morning?" She looked back at him.

"What do you mean?"

It was Riku's turn to frown. "You came stumbling over to my bed saying something about you hurting me if I ever turn to darkness."

Alexis nodded. "Oh, right. Do you promise?"

"Promise what?"

"To not turn to darkness."

He stared at her slightly. "Why would I turn to darkness?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Just promise." Riku shook his head stubbornly.

"No. Why should I promise about something that I don't even know?"

Alexis groaned. "Just promise, please. You trust me, right?" Riku rolled his eyes.

"No, not really." The blonde slapped her forehead in frustration.

"Oh, forget it. But I swear, you're gonna regret this one day."

Riku raised his eyebrows challengingly. "Is that a threat?" The blonde glared at him.

"No, idiot. It's a piece of advice and a warning for the future."

¤

"The girl; does she suspect something?"

Maleficent frowned at the pirate's question, tapping her staff against the floor in thought.

"If she does, it will not be good for us," crackled Ursula beside Hook, and Oogie Boogie nodded.

"Especially without her fear here now, we don't know what she might do."

Jafar snorted. "Why, it actually plays to our advantage." He rolled his eyes at the villain's – not including Maleficent's – confused looks. "With no fear, the girl will be reckless and foolish. Why, she may play right into our hands!" He chuckled.

"But where has her fear gone?" Maleficent asked, holding out her hand above the little table serving as their 'observing-station'. "Show me her Fear," she commanded, watching as an image flickered to life.

"It's that girl again!" Exclaimed Hades incredulously, leaning in to look closer at the picture of the white-haired girl lying on her hands in front of a jar.

"Who is this child?" Demanded Captain Hook, observing the figure suspiciously.

Maleficent frowned. "Whoever she is, she is meddling with our plans. We must be rid of her immediately."

"But how will we do that?" Asked Oogie Boogie, looking up at the witch. Maleficent scowled.

"Just like we do with any others, of course! We send the Heartless after her."

_Oh, I'm afraid that won't quite work._

The villains ended their conversation as a sweet voice rang out in the room, startling them.

_You see, even if you did try sending your darkness after me, it would simply fail._

"Show yourself!" Demanded Maleficent, holding out her staff warily as the crow flapped its wings madly in frustration.

_Oh, but you can already see me. _

The little girl in the transparent image turned her eyes seemingly right to the villains.

She smiled, her eyes closed and her lips pulled into an innocent expression.

* * *

a/n: whee. Two chapters in one day. : ) Nothing much for me to say about this one, though. 

Please review!


	18. One Step Closer : Chapter Fifteen

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

One Step Closer : Chapter Fifteen  
_( "Setting your sights a little high, aren't you boy?" )_

¤

"So… remind me again as to why I'm doing this?" Questioned Alexis, turning to her silver-haired companion while keeping one eye on the deserted streets of the desert city of Agrabah for any signs of the Princess.

Riku leaned back on his hands and swung his legs over the covering of the tent that the two were sitting on. "You should be the one telling me that. What did Maleficent offer you, anyways?"

The blonde visibly bristled at the question and looked away from him stubbornly. "I asked her to return Michael back to our world."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "It still exists? I thought it was destroyed, seeing that you and Rachelle ended up here."

Alexis shrugged. "I thought so too, but apparently it's still there." Movement below caught her eye and she sprang forward, peering over the edge. "Look!" She hissed loudly, shifting her weight as the cloth moved under her as Riku came to look as well.

"What are they doing here?" He asked confusedly as the four figures of Sora, Rachelle, Donald and Goofy walked through the arch and into the city, wiping some sand from the desert out of their clothes and hair.

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Sora's the Keybearer, Rachelle is stuck with him whether she likes it or not, and Donald and Goofy are looking for the king, remember?" She explained, recalling the speech Maleficent had given to them before the pair left.

Riku nodded sheepishly. "Oh, right."

"How far do you think Jafar has gone with releasing the Heartless?" Piped up the blonde suddenly, looking in worry around the city. Riku raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you asking?" She shrugged.

"As much as I hate deserts, the city is actually kind of nice."

"Oh."

The two stayed in silence for a few minutes, observing the group of travelers as they battled some of the Bandit Heartless. "They've gotten pretty good," offered Alexis, smiling as Sora destroyed a Large Body in just a few hits.

"I guess," said Riku, summoning his Soul Eater to slay a poor Shadow that braved to come near the two. "While we're on the topic, how far are you in your training?"

Grinning, Alexis called out Ragnarok just in time to slash through another Shadow as it snuck up behind her. "Pretty good, if I do say so myself. I'm thinking I can take you on in about a few days."

The older teen nodded, refusing to leave his eyes from the four below them while still keeping up their conversation. "You sure? There will be no second chances," he teased and Alexis laughed, patting him on the shoulder with her free hand.

"Yes, buddy-boy, I'm sure. Though I'm not as sure that you will like the answers to your question – that is, if you win." He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Oh? How so?"

She shrugged. "They might not be something someone will be able to handle. …Oh, look, Sora and Rachelle are leaving." She jumped off with Riku following, making sure to stay out of possible eye-range of the heroes. Something caught her eye again, though, and she walked over to it, forgetting about following them for the moment.

"Ooh, shiny."

Riku ran a hand in frustration through his hair and groaned. "Alexis, not now."

The girl stuck her tongue out at him and wiggled her hand, causing the bracelets to jingle. Dropping a few munny crystals on the counter, she bounced past her partner and towards the Alleyway, hiding behind the walls to listen.

¤

"Aladdin? Where might I find this street rat?"

Rachelle's body automatically took on a fighting stance as Jafar's voice rang out above them, startling the group out of their conversation.

"Jasmine," he continued, smiling wide at the princess. "Allow me to find you more suitable company, my _dear_ **princess**. These little rats won't do, you see."

"Hey!" Rachelle cried out, glaring at the vizier.

"Jasmine, run!" Called Sora, spreading his hand in the direction of Main Street while his Keyblade appeared in his other hand. The desert princess followed his directions, leaving the four to face Jafar.

"Ah, the boy who holds the key," he drawled, casting a look over the group. Several Bandit Heartless suddenly appeared and surrounded him, waving their swords around energetically. They jumped down simultaneously towards the four as Jafar himself left towards the Gates, casting one last sneer over his shoulder.

"Damnit!" Cursed Rachelle, casting Thunder – a spell she had just found she had acquired back in the Gummi Ship along with Cure, adding a leaf-like and a lightning key-chains hanging from her staff's sun – and dodging a Bandit as it flew past her, sword in hand that would have fatally damaged her had she not avoided it.

After a few minutes of fighting, several Cure spells and Potions later, the party ran towards the desert, avoiding any more Heartless.

"Where do you think we should go?" Asked Sora once they entered the storage room, taking turns to rest at the Save Point.

"Maybe we should check that cave we saw back at the desert – the one with the tiger head, you know?" Suggested Rachelle, jumping towards the chest sitting innocently on a ledge just out of her reach. Sighing as she gave up, she settled for hitting a jar instead and collecting the munny that burst out of it.

"_That _place?" Shivered Donald, crossing his arms and Goofy scratched his head beside him.

"Garwsh, you think there might be something there?"

"More or less." Answered Rachelle, shrugging.

Sora shook his head. "We should check the rest of the city to see if Jasmine is okay first, though."

"Wow, you actually had a good idea for once." Teased the brunette mage from beside him, summoning Shimmer as she readied herself to go back outside. "Say, there was this one place that seemed to lead somewhere back on Main Street – we should check it out."

The three shrugged in answer and exited back, immediately destroying the four Shadows that appeared. Sora sighed as even more appeared before them, emotionless yellow eyes staring simultaneously at them.

"Same strategy as before?" He called, jumping behind a Large Body and hacking at it. Rachelle wrinkled her nose from where she was parrying attacks from a Bandit.

"Okay, but only because we're in a hurry."

Donald nodded, creeping slowly backwards from the Shadows circling him. "On the count of three, then! One – two – three!"

The four turned tail and high sped it right out of the area.

¤

"Well, isn't that heroic of them."

Alexis snorted at Riku's comment as they watched their friends from up above the buildings, lounging relaxingly. "Oh, you would have done the same thing in their situation," she chided, swinging her legs happily over the ledge.

Riku rolled his eyes and opted for leaning against a wall instead. "So, from before – did Maleficent tell you when she's letting Michael go?"

Alexis shrugged and turned to the boy in interest. "When we're done doing our jobs. Why the sudden interest?"

The teen fidgeted slightly, brushing some of his bangs from his eyes. "Just some worry, I guess." He cringed as the blonde girl continued staring at him unblinkingly.

"Worried about me, or about your sanity?"

Riku blinked in confusion at her. "My sanity?" She giggled and nodded.

"I'm bound to get on your nerves even more, y'know? I'm famous to be double-sided," Alexis joked, turning to watch the streets again. Riku laughed behind her.

"Both, I guess."

"Aw, you're worried about me? I'm flattered." Alexis grinned as the silver-haired teen rolled his eyes behind her again.

"Right. Whatever."

Alexis's smile turned serious suddenly and she stopped swinging her legs for a moment. "I really am flattered, though. You are usually focused more on yourself and don't think of others too rationally. I guess I'm kind of glad I'm rising towards Sora's and Kairi's level."

Riku stared blankly at her back. "Huh?"

The blonde suddenly laughed, turning to him and grinned cheekily. "See? I _am _like a double-sided coin!" She mock-cackled. "Riku's sanity, you better be afraid; very afraid!"

Riku stared at her as she continued cackling. "Uh, right…"

¤

"…Where are we? …And is that a _carpet _trying to get out of under the bureau?"

Rachelle walked over to the wriggling carpet slowly, staring at it suspiciously. "…Do you want some help?"

Donald rolled his eyes behind her back. "It's tryin' to get out, don't you think it _does _need help?" He asked sarcastically, but was silenced as the mage shot him a glare. Turning back to the bureau, she heaved it off to the side while wincing every few seconds.

"This thing is heavy!" Rachelle exclaimed before giving the piece of furniture one last push and sending the carpet free. It jumped around for a few seconds before flying off through a hole in one the walls in the direction of the desert. The girl raised an eyebrow.

"Do you think we should follow it?" She asked.

Sora grinned and swung his Keyblade over his shoulder, already jumping out to follow it. "Of course! It was heading towards that cave from earlier, anyways!"

Shrugging, Donald and Goofy jumped after him but Rachelle paused, looking suspiciously at the height. "Game mechanics," she muttered before plunging down as well. "We really need to use those back at home."

With a yell she landed on the platforms above the arch leading back the desert, sending up dust and sand whirling around her. Jumping down gravity-defying towards the desert where her companions were waiting, she ran up to them as they just finished 'talking' with the carpet.

"It wants to take us somewhere…could it mean to the cave?" Wondered Sora, turning to look at the other three. Rachelle raised and lowered one shoulder in answer.

"Might as well," she said, walking over to the fidgeting alive-piece of furniture and jumping onto it, Donald, Goofy and Sora following.

¤

"That was close!" Hissed Riku as he and Alexis jumped down from a ledge back to the spot they were at seconds before Sora and company came flying down.

"I'm more worried about being crushed by Sora's shoes," said Alexis sarcastically as they settled to watch the desert for their friends. "I mean, you guys wear shoes that are larger than my head!" She complained, waving her hands around to elaborate her point.

She quieted when she got no response from her companion, and instead looked at him curiously. "What's on your mind?"

Riku shrugged and sat beside the girl, surprising her, seeing that he never particularly liked being beside her. "What's going to happen after?" He questioned, leaning on his hands as he stared at the desert.

Alexis frowned and turned to look out as well. "I dunno… I guess you, Kairi, and Sora will go back to your islands when they are restored, and Rachelle, Michael and I will go back as well…" She sighed suddenly. "I don't wanna leave…"

Riku turned to her in surprise, and seeing his look, the girl continued to explain. "I mean, as much as I hate working for Maleficent and all, I've been able to see Russia from years ago, as well as being in Agrabah, a world that I though I'd only see in a movie."

The silver-haired teen stared at her in confusion. "Movie?" The blonde nodded.

"Yeah. The worlds I've seen so far – not counting Destiny Islands – are a movie or a cartoon or a fairytale in my world. And I sometimes know what can happen, too. Like now, I know that this guy named Aladdin who Jasmine was talking about earlier is in the desert by the Cave of Wonders where Sora and Rachelle had gone to, and he has found a lamp with a genie in it." She paused.

"Though, I don't know anymore, because the Heartless were never a part of this. …Oh, look, they're back again." They turned to look towards the five as they ran into the city.

"We have to help Jasmine!"

The pair raised their eyebrows and leaned back at Sora's exclamation. "Tough luck," murmured the blonde, watching as Jafar and Jasmine appeared behind them out of the corners of her eyes.

"Go to the Cave of Wonders," the vizier ordered, stepping past them and dragging the blue-clad princess behind him. Sighing, Alexis rose as a dark portal appeared, with Riku already halfway through it. She shot an apologetic look at the glaring princess.

"I'm really sorry about this," she offered, playing with her gloves. "But you can rely on Aladdin, Sora and Rachelle – they'll help as much as they can." Jasmine shot her another glare and turned her nose up in the air.

"Go, girl," snarled Jafar, pointing his staff towards the entrance. Sticking her tongue out at him, she entered after her partner.

¤

"Setting your sights a little high, aren't you boy?"

The group's heads turned for the second time as Jafar's voice rang out as he appeared before them, with Jasmine standing grudgingly behind him. "Back to your hole, street rat," he continued. "I will not allow you to trouble the princess anymore."

"Jasmine!" Aladdin yelled, ready to run to her.

"I'm so sorry, Aladdin!" The princess cried, only to be stopped as Jafar threw a glare back at her.

"Genie," Aladdin murmured, rubbing the lamp behind him. "Help Jasmine, please!"

The four heroes let out sighs of relief, as Genie appeared, scooping up the girl. "You know, you're making this too easy!" He exclaimed.

Jafar suddenly chuckled. "So sorry, boy. I'm afraid your second wish has been denied." Iago flew up to him seemingly out of nowhere with Genie's lamp clutched in is talons, and Aladdin looked at his hands in surprise.

"I'm sorry Al!" Cried Genie as Jasmine disappeared from his hands in a flash of blue and purple sparkles, flying into one of the giant pots with a startled cry.

"And now," started Jafar, spreading his hands around him. "I bid you all farewell." Numerous Pot Spiders appeared around him, including the one where Jasmine was trapped in. "Attack!"

Two more pots suddenly cracked behind the group, revealing a bug-looking head and a tail. Rachelle screwed up her nose in disgust. "Ew!" She cried, summoning Shimmer. "What are those?"

Sora shrugged from where he was behind her, calling out his Keyblade as Aladdin, Donald and Goofy readied their weapons as well. "I don't know, but this doesn't look like it's going to be too easy!"

* * *

a/n: Yay, an update. : ) I've calculated how many chapters this may have – I've come up with about 30, give or take a few. I've figured there are ten more worlds – including this one – left to go, and maybe I'll split a couple of them into two parts. But then there are also the scenes with Antonia and Justin and all the sideplans… xD;; This is gonna be hard. And concerning the RachellexJustin part… well, I've decided to take it down to a minimum. I just don't have ideas for them, and from now on, it's going to be kind of featuring a lot of Alexis and Riku, at least until the 'Rachelle' chapters come. 

Anyways, please review!


	19. Spinning Out of Control:Chapter Sixteen

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Spinning Out of Control : Chapter Sixteen_  
( "She's growing foolish." )_

¤

"Bah, I can't believe that man is such a grump!"

Riku turned towards the portal as it disappeared into wisps of darkness, leaving Alexis standing with crossed arms, scowling and fuming.

"'Go to the Cave of Wonders'," she imitated nasally, plopping down on a pile of gold coins. "Cave of Wonders my ass! I mean, sure, we have to follow him and all as well as listen cause he's just so oh _higher in rank _than us, but what are we, his damn servants!?" With one last scowl, she closed her eyes and made a sound caught between a scream and a growl, rubbing at her temples.

Riku raised an eyebrow at the outburst and leaned against a column.

"What got you so fired up?" He teased, but froze as his companion sent him a glare from under her bangs.

"I believe I just _explained _myself, buddy-boy." She snarled before closing her eyes again and chanting words to calm herself under her breath.

Riku's second eyebrow rose then both fell as he furrowed his brow. "What's up with you?"

¤

"Oh? What is it?"

Antonia watched in curiosity as the trapped shard seemingly pulsed on her desk, catching her attention from the book splayed in front of her.

'…'

She smiled as words echoed across her mind, jumbled and messed, making no sense.

"You wish to do that?"

'…!'

Another smile as she rose from her bed, walking quickly over to the Fear piece and placing a hand over it. "She's growing foolish," she murmured, and the shard bobbed as if in agreement.

The girl's smile stretched.

"As you wish, then."

Light blue light filled the room and disappeared just as soon as it came.

¤

"Stupid...bastard…" The string of curses followed as the blonde flicked pieces of gold across the floor, glaring at each as if it was Jafar himself she was sending skidding all the way to the other side of the room.

"I swear, if I could, I'd get my hands on him and send him all the way to Hades – no, even lower than that!"

Her silver-haired companion chuckled at the threats, finding them undoubtedly funny.

"And after that, I could take his own hat and stuff it in his dead mouth—huh?"

He raised his head as the mantra suddenly stopped, only to choke on air as his companion was covered in light blue light right before his eyes before it disappeared, leaving her blinking for a few seconds before her frame wavered and sent her tumbling to the ground.

"Nya…I don't feel so good…"

Alexis blinked again behind her glasses before they slid close, sending Riku running over to her in a hurry.

"Alexis? What's wrong?" He asked, shaking her lightly by the shoulders. The blonde's eyes slid open again, only to send the older teen recoiling back slightly in shock.

"I think I'm going on a little trip…"

Her previously grey eyes flickered to magenta pink as she smiled foolishly.

¤

Same magenta pink eyes opened barriers across somewhere else from concentration, and the owner sighed wearily before plopping herself down on the bed.

"Really," she mused, her white hair splayed messily across the covers. "I'm growing too soft."

¤

Back barriers across, aqua marine eyes opened in confusion as Riku sat up, looking around him warily.

"Alexis?" He called, standing up as the darkness around him swirled. He was vaguely reminded of the place he found himself at after his islands were destroyed.

He shook his head to chase that particular thought away, trying to focus on where his blonde-haired companion had gone.

_You're going on a little trip._

His head turned as the unfamiliar childish voice echoed across the empty void. "Who are you?" He cried, trying to summon his Soul Eater.

_You wouldn't need that here._

He gaped as the weapon disappeared from his hands, and as a faint silhouette flashed in front of him.

The girl smiled eerily.

_You wish to know more about your friend, do you not?_

Riku narrowed his eyes and nodded slowly. "What can you tell me about Alexis?"

The girl opened her mouth as mirth shook her petite body, but no sound came. _My, a little selfish, don't you think? _She eyed him coyly as the air around them flickered, sending a slight static-like buzz through the void.

Riku frowned. "Huh?" The girl chuckled silently again.

_You friend does not wish you to know, 'for your own good', as she puts it, yet when a stranger asks you agree eagerly._ Her eyes narrowed. _Do you really wish to betray her?_

A scowl marred his face as Riku lashed his hands in front of him in protest. "I am not betraying anybody!" He yelled, glaring fully at the figure. "How can I trust somebody whom I know nothing about?"

A forbidding smile spread across her face as her figure shimmered.

_As you wish, then. But why tell, when you can show?_

The static grew stronger until the lone teen had to cover his ears in pain. "What's going on?" He cried to no one, wincing as the sound filled his head. Just as he was about to fall from the pressure, it disappeared—

--only to be replaced by scenery around him as it seemingly sprouted from the ground.

Uncovering his ears slowly, the silver-haired teen looked around in wonder at the cozy-looking houses surrounding him.

"What?" He murmured, raising his eyes to the clouded sky. "Where am I?"

A yell sent him turning sharply to look to the left at the house where a blonde girl with her hair in high pigtails sat lounging on her front stairs, eyes trailing the pages of the book in her lap before she raised her head at the call of her name, grey eyes twinkling happily behind silver-framed glasses.

"Alexis! Michael and I have been looking all over for you!"

The younger form of Alexis laughed sheepishly as a six-year old Rachelle and a seven-year-old Michael ran up to her, panting for breath before the brunette girl put her arms on her hips and glared at her friend teasingly.

"It's a _wonderful_ day for playing Lexie, and you're reading a _book_!" She pouted as said blonde rubbed the back of her neck.

"But I'm at a good part too, Rachie!" She turned to face Michael. "Michie, you know how it is! You love reading as well, don't you?" The boy laughed good-naturedly and ruffled Alexis's hair, much to her annoyance.

"Sorry Lex, but she's right." He grinned, putting his heads behind his head. "Now put that book away so we can all go to the beach!"

The boy's action sent a pang through Riku as he was reminded of a certain Keyblade-wielding brunette, but he shooed it away. "I've got things to think about other than that," he mumbled to himself, watching in wonder as the minimized forms of the people he'd met ran happily down the road.

"I always thought that Rachelle would be the book-type," he mused to himself as he followed them at a slower pace. He smirked slightly as the image of the two girls as they would be older flashed through his mind. "And with Alexis now, I'd hardly guess they were complete opposite."

"Lexie, you just moved here, remember?"

The conversation caught his ears and he jogged closer to listen them, wondering if they'd be able to see him at all. The younger Alexis nodded as she clutched her book to her chest, looking curiously at Rachelle.

"Yeah, why?" The brunette nodded fiercely to herself, looking determined..

"If you want to make any friends, you _have _to be more outgoing!" She instructed, to which Alexis shrugged.

"But what if I don't want to have many friends?" She questioned, looking at the sky before smiling. "You and Michael are enough right now, don't you think?"

Michael frowned to himself from where he was walking in front of the group. "But still, don't you think that having a lot of friends is fun?" He blinked as the blonde girl shook her head furiously.

"Having a lot of friends is not always the best," she chided, suddenly adapting a tone unlike her own. "There are many bad things that can happen if you have a lot of people around you…" she trailed off and laughed sheepishly again at the incredulous looks she was getting from her companions.

"Nevermind what I said! Let's go to the beach already, okay?"

Riku raised his eyebrows as the three children continued walking and he followed them, many thoughts concerning the Alexis he knew whirling in his head.

_She's quite different from the one you know, ne?_

He tensed and whirled at the voice again, barely taking into account as all sound and movement around him froze. "Why, though?" He questioned more to himself than to the voice, as it voiced his internal thoughts.

He suddenly got the feeling that the voice was laughing.

_Then let's find out, shall we?_

The buzz returned – though thankfully not as strong – as the scenery changed again, and Riku found himself sitting on a couch as the still little Alexis and Rachelle sat on the carpet in front of him, coloring the papers in front of them placed onto a hard-surface board.

A question coming from the brunette piped Riku's attention.

"Say, Lexie, why don't you like having too many friends?"

The blonde tensed for a second before looking at her friend. "Why do you want to know?"

Rachelle shrugged. "Well, aren't you bothered by what all the other kids in our class say about you?" She paused. "Even Miss E is worried, too."

Alexis shrugged, but continued doodling. "Well, I don't really care what they think of me right now…" She smiled.

"But Lexie… what about later?" Alexis frowned in a childish manner as Rachelle herself frowned at the leprechaun picture in front of her.

"Rachie, since when have you worried about things like that?"

* * *

a/n: oh my gawd, I am _so _sorry for not updating for nearly two months, but I've been getting addicted to numerous things as well as having writer's block, so I didn't get this out sooner… my plot idea is changing a little as well, so I'm re-thinking some parts. 

As for this chapter as well as the next one or two – they will be _all _Alexis and Riku based, and you'll all have a chance to looks into our favourite hyper0blonde's life, as well as a little into a Rachelle. Concerning Rachelle, though, I'm having a kind of rough time with her… truth to be told, I can't wait to start writing more Alexis stuff. –guilty-

Now… where is Riku? Why is Alexis there? Who's the girl showing him all of this? –cough- What's Antonia's plan, as well as Maleficent's? Will Riku be glad for finding out more of his partner's life, or will he wish to have never known? As well, what will _Alexis _think when she finds out?

I know the chapter is short, and the ending is bad… really sorry. : (

Reviews, please, and I sincerely hope I didn't lose some of you guys… without all of your reviews and encouragement, I would have actually abandoned this.


	20. Well, Howdy Doo! : Chapter Seventeen

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Well, Howdy Doo: Chapter Seventeen_  
( "__ Kinda like a No—__" )_

¤

"You know, I really thought you above sneaking into other people's minds, Riku."

The accused silver-haired teen whirled around in shock, his eyes widening as the form of his companion slowly whirled into existence beside him, the multi-colored lights surrounding her fading after a few seconds. She glanced up at him behind her glasses with apprehending eyes, raising an eyebrow in a silent question.

"…Huh?"

Alexis sighed in frustration and pushed her glasses further up her nose in a nervous habit. "What I meant is – what are you doing in my memories?"

"Well… I guess I could change then, couldn't I?"

The two turned from their conversation to watch as the scene in front of them progressed, guessing they missed out on a part of it, seeing as the blonde child was packing up her crayons and coloring book, smiling serenely at her friend. Rachelle in turn shrugged and smiled back, waving good-bye as Alexis left the room to where the pair could see a car waiting.

Rachelle's smile turned into a frown for a split-second as she questioned the empty room.

"But what if you _can't _change?"

The real Alexis snorted and glared slightly. "I did change, didn't I?" She muttered before standing up swiftly and heading for the front door as her counter-part had just done.

Riku chased after her and nearly collided with the door that swung shut at him. Scowling, he pushed it open and rushed to Alexis walking up the street. "Hey, what'd you do that for?" He yelled, putting a hand on her shoulder in a futile attempt to stop her.

Instead, she shrugged it off and crossed her arms, huffing angrily. "Because I want you to _leave_. Is that so hard to understand?" She whirled around and poked him, grey eyes challenging him to find will to object.

He was never one to back down, through.

"And why not?" He sneered, poking her back on her forehead, seeing as she just managed to reach his chin, being younger than him. "What's all this you're talking about? Your mind, memories? I deserve some explanations, damnit!"

"UGH!" She cried, throwing a childish tantrum and stomping her feet. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! Just get the hell out of my mind!"

"Not until you explain what's going on!" He called back after a few seconds as she walked as fast as she could away from him, up to the park on the hill leading away from them.

_You should follow her, you know._

He'd almost forgotten about the voice, too. But wait… this one sounded… different? Dismissing the fact, he glowered to himself, crossed his arms and turned his back on the girl. "And why should I?" He questioned the empty air.

_This will be your last chance to find out the truth! _It sang around him, and the air flickered.

"Why should I listen to you? I don't even know who you are!" Riku rebelled, smirking.

"Fine, so you want to know who I am. You'll probably forget when you wake up anyways, so why not?"

He spun on his feet in astonishment as the voice that was teasing him seconds before took form, landing lightly on her feet with little black devil wings supporting her in the air before twitching and falling motionless.

She smiled.

"Well, howdy doo. I'm Fear. Nice to meetcha."

What shook him the most was not that somebody was randomly appearing out of thin air, oh no. Neither the fact that the scenery around them was blurring by at kilometers an hour.

Of course not.

What shook him the most was the fact that she looked almost exactly like Alexis.

¤

"Now! Jump!"

The cry came a split-second too late and the smell of fried duck filled the cavern as Donald squawked in panic and furiously cast Blizzard on his burning tail numerous times in attempt to douse the small flames that settled there.

Rachelle smiled guiltily. "Hey, I did warn you." She defended, raising her hands in mock-surrender. She turned her head as Sora landed beside her with several Potions clutched to his chest, laughing slightly at the distress of his duck-friend.

"Gawsh, maybe we should go help him," stated Goofy worryingly after a few minutes of watching the blue-clad mage run around the room in hopes of putting out the small fire. Rachelle shook her head and smiled.

"He can handle it."

They all watched as Donald, finally finding a solution, plopped himself down over the edge, where a few seconds later a loud splash echoed. The brunette shrugged.

"See, I told you he could do it."

Waiting for Donald to find his way back to the chamber, the three soon-to-be heroes settled comfortably on different blocks around the room, either practicing spells, or just plain lazing around.

"So, how close to the Princess do you think we are?" Questioned Rachelle after managing to master the Blizzard spell, content with her ability of putting out all of the torches on the cave wall.

"I'd say we're pretty close." Answered Sora, leaning back to rest his hands behind his head. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I just want to get this over with."

"This?"

She nodded. "Yeah. You know – find Alexis, seal Keyholes, then return home."

Sora frowned. "Where is your home, anyways? Was it destroyed by the Heartless?" Seeing her blank look he started apologizing, but the brunette shook her head.

"No, it wasn't destroyed. I just don't know where it is, that's all."

They Keyblade-wielder grinned. "Well, we'll find it eventually!" He encouraged, but Rachelle laughed loudly.

"I doubt it," she commented, springing to her feet as a ragged Donald appeared at the top of the stairs leading to the under-cave. "Let's go."

¤

If one didn't know better, they would have thought that the girl in front of them was no other than Alexis, who was actually swinging herself at the park's playground.

But Riku did, and the extraordinary-dressed look-alike was definitely not his partner-in-crime.

For one, her dressing style was clashing with the one of her twin's – while Alexis's was colorful blues, greens and slight pinks, these were dark hues of black, dark blue, and red. In place of darkened green capris, there were black leggings tucked into black boots with maroon decorative designs adorning them. A short gray, ruffled skirt with a dark blue belt and a black and white top with numerous straps and fishnet-like sleeves that started at the shoulder and ended at the tips of her fingers completed the outfit.

The second major difference was the natural appearance of the girl. Blonde hair was replaced by hair the color of very dark honey, with blue and red streaks running through it. One of her side bangs was clipped up in a graceful arch with a gray pin that looked awfully a lot like Sora's crown necklace, and black, shining glasses covered mischievous light grey eyes.

Fear smiled patiently as Riku continued taking it her appearance, a gob-smacked expression on his handsome face. Getting tired after a few minutes, she tapped him lightly on the head with a pack of cards to snap him out of his revere.

"As much I love being admired," she started cheekily, disposing the cards into a special holder at her waist and snapping it shut, "I'm afraid that I don't have much time here, and you need some things to know – at least for now."

Seeing his empty look, she sighed and continued. "First, yes, my name _is _Fear. I'm sure you have a pretty good guess of who's." She watched amusingly as his expression changed to one of recognition.

"…Alexis's?" When she nodded, he frowned. "But how is that possible?"

"Well…" Fear twirled around on the spot, her demon wings fluttering against the breeze. "Remember when your girlfriend—" she paused at his glaring look. "—okay, not girlfriend – but really, the blush doesn't help – ANYWAYS. Remember when she was attacked by that Heartless at one of your pointless little training fights?"

When he nodded, she grinned and pointed a finger at herself. "Well, I was born then from the missing piece of her heart."

…

"What do you mean 'from the missing piece of her heart'?" Asked Riku suspiciously, not completely believing the strange girl's tale. Fear rolled her eyes in a very Alexis-like fashion that sent shivers up his spine.

"When that Heartless clawed at her," she started slowly, emphasizing every point, "A shard of her heart went missing – me. That's why she can't be afraid anymore; as long as she and I are separate. And when we become whole, well," she smiled cheerily. "I disappear, and she becomes whole. Kinda like a No—"

She froze suddenly in the middle of her sentence, managing to stop herself from saying anything unnecessary.

"A what?" Questioned Riku, suddenly becoming interested, but Fear nervously waved her hands in front of her and giggled shakily. "Nothing. You better find Alexis now, if you want to get close to her."

"I do _not _want to get close to her," hissed Riku dangerously. "And besides, I have no idea who she really is."

Fear pouted childishly at his stubbornness. "Geez, if I knew a video game character like you was to be this stubborn, I wouldn't have even tried." She took his moment of surprise to coyly lean in and peck him on the cheek. "You and Alexis are going to get along just fine, _buddy-boy_."

Fear leaned back and smiled amusingly at him. "I'll be sticking around for a while longer, so call on me if you need some help." She paused, thinking. "Oh, and call me… Terra. Yeah, Terra. I like the sound of that." She disappeared with a wink and a flap of her wings.

Shaking himself out of his shock, Riku shook his head and decided to go after Alexis.

Yeah, that sounded good.

Cause frankly, her twin – her Fear – kind of scared him. Who knew what she could do?

He set towards the park where Alexis had gone, only to find himself already standing at the entrance. Shrugging to himself, he continued towards where he could hear a swing creaking loudly, signaling someone was currently on it.

Maybe it was Alexis? He could hope. And besides… 'video game character'?

He needed some explanations. Now.

* * *

OH MY GOD I'M NOT DEAD. : D I have no excuses this time, other than the fact that I got over Kingdom Hearts for a while. But now I'm back, and ready to write. Storyline's changed a little, but yeah, everything's still good. 

Review, please, and I sincerely hope I did not loose some of you guys (again). Tell me what you think of this chapter? 3


	21. Little Secrets : Chapter Eighteen

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

It's Raining Little Secrets : Chapter Eighteen  
_"What's not to understand? "_

¤

He made his way through the foliage slowly, capturing the sights in his mind. He could see people of various ages strolling through the trees, laughing. There were kids running around on the playgrounds as the sun beat down on them; happy. Squirrels and wild hares bounded around them; careless.

Yet none of them seemed to notice him.

He had tried asking a young family a few minutes back if they had seen Alexis, but as soon as he reached them their outlines became blurry and the images fuzzed – almost as if on a broken video. His memory relapsed to before Alexis appeared out of nowhere, and he winced.

"Alexis, push me higher, okay!"

Riku's head snapped to where the child's cry was coming from, and he quickly found himself standing behind a wall of decorative flowers, where beyond a swing set stood against shaded trees, and a young girl with her brown hair in braids was laughing as Alexis pushed her from behind on the swing, smiling widely.

He did a double-take – another Alexis was sitting on the opposite swing, smiling proudly as she watched the scene play out before her. Her hands were clutched loosely around the chains, her gloves resting lightly in her lap.

"That's my sister," she suddenly said, as if knowing he was secretly watching her. Shrugging to himself, Riku walked to lean against the cold bars of the playground attraction.

"I hate her sometimes, I really do, but I love times like that." She motioned with her head towards where the girl was turning around to say something to her sister, who, in turn, laughed and pushed her again.

"'You don't push hard enough,' she had whined then, I remember," the blonde murmured, pushing herself against the light breeze with her feet and the swing swung silently, lifting its passenger into the air. Laughing, she cried,

"I love memories like this!"

Riku smiled with her, a feeling of excitement curling in his stomach. He hopped onto the other swing and pushed himself off as well, laughing loudly as gravity lost its pull on him for a few precious seconds.

"I haven't been on these for a while!" He said, noticing his companion's amused look. At his words, her smile grew wider and she hopped off in mid-air, stumbling a little before scuttling behind the silver-haired boy and starting to push him.

"This place here," she started saying, pausing every once in a while to push the swing, "Was a favorite place of mine and Rachelle's, because we always thought it was so secret and secluded. We visited this very swing set almost everyday after school – not even Michael knew about it!"

Riku paused to gather his thoughts before slowly saying,

"But this world – it's not real, is it?"

Alexis's hands faltered but regained their momentum a few seconds later, and she nodded. "Yeah, it's not. This is actually my memories, as I think you've already guessed. When I fell asleep back in the Cave of Wonders…" she paused. "Well, I think that my mind subconsciously took me here. I don't know why you came as well, though…"

She trailed off and Riku frowned, furrowing his brows at the new information.

"I'm ever-knowing here, too, so go ahead and ask me what you want. I know you've been dying to."

He winced slightly at the barely-noticeable hint of steel in her voice, but obliged her request. "I met this girl on the way here—"

"Terra." Alexis interrupted him, and he nodded in surprise. "She visited me a few minutes before you came." She explained, a slight note of order for him to continue in her voice.

"She said something about me being a video game character."

Riku now turned fully to face his friend, successfully halting her. He recoiled slightly at her emotionless smile, taking in her frozen expression with a slight frown.

"A video game character. Yes." Alexis stated, and her glasses flashed in the sunlight in an unnatural way as she tilted her head to the side innocently, yet it still sent shivers up Riku's spine.

"Explain!" He finally growled, unnerved by the way she kept looking at him, as if analyzing him. "What are you talking about!?"

A frown crossed her face. "What's not to understand?" She asked coldly. "You are a pixel. I bought your game. Rachelle and I bought your game. We got transported to your island." She froze suddenly before looking at him in a slightly different way, then opened her mouth to recite:

"Riku. Age 15. He may seem cool and collected for his age, but he is far from the quiet type. Always curious about the unknown, he begins to question the small, closed world in which he lives." A smile slowly spread across her face. "Sora. Main character. Age 14. As a teenager, he has—"

"Stop!" Yelled Riku, covering her mouth with his hands and glaring harshly at her. "That's enough," he glowered, and he could feel the smile underneath his gloves stretch even larger. "Alexis, what are you doing?"

His hands fell away from her as if affected by an unseen force, and Alexis took a step backwards, then another and another.

"You know," she started, eyes slowly drifting shut. "I'd tell you that when I wake up, I would be completely different, but now—now, it's too late." Her eyes closed shut and she fell to the ground with a loud thud the same time Riku's eyes widened before he too fell, disappearing in a second.

The same time the gloves that fell off her knees when she stood up turned completely black.

¤

Riku awoke with a groan, and putting a hand to his forehead, muttered a few curses before sitting up and steadying himself. Peeking out of the corners of his eyes where Alexis lay, he cursed again more loudly and crawled over to her just as the last of the black tendrils disappeared into her body.

"Alexis!" He shook her body, in hopes of managing to shake her from the slumber. Her body twitched and she let out a breathless moan, but otherwise didn't wake up.

"Alexis!" He called again. "Damn it, wake—" He froze as footsteps echoed in the chamber behind them. Groaning to himself, he shot one last look at Alexis's motionless body and hurried to the next room – doing what he was supposed to do.

¤

Rachelle hurried to her unconscious friend with a cry as soon as spotting her lying on the cold floor of the room, glamorous jewels and coins surrounding her in a heavenly light.

"Alexis!" She whined, just as moments before Riku had done. Though this time, to the mage's relief, the blonde opened her eyes wearily and blinked.

"Rachie?" She mumbled, clumsily sitting up and rubbing at her eyes behind her glasses. "What happened? I remember being with Riku back home, but then there's nothing…"

Sora's head snapped up from examining a large ruby at the mention of his best friend. "Riku!?" He cried, rushing over to the kneeling girl. "You know where Riku is?!"

Alexis nodded at him in confusion. "Of course. We've been working for the last few days helping Maleficent…" She suddenly cried in surprise as a rope of darkness wrapped around her waist, pulling her into the floor, where a void appeared, swirling menacingly.

Alexis's struggles slowly ceased, and as if in a dream, she slowly moved her head towards where Rachelle was beating frantically against invisible barriers. In a voice so much unlike her own yet so familiar, Alexis's lips formed words that rang out loudly in the chaotic chamber.

"Lightest of the Dark…be careful not to make the wrong choice…" She muttered before smiling widely and closing her eyes with a moan. "…yet I think you've already done so… Lightest of the Dark… don't forget that name."

She disappeared.

Rachelle cursed a few seconds later, stamping her foot. "Damn it! Why does she keep doing that!? And what the hell was all that 'lightest of dark' shiz!"

¤

_"You've fallen, little light."_

_Alexis scowled and continued tracing circles in the sand as Light Keyblade formed behind her, coming to stand in front of the ocean. _

_"Just be quiet," she muttered, standing up and dusting off her legs of the extra sand. LK turned to her with an amused smile on his handsome face and chuckled at the fierce expression on the girl's face._

_"Why? Do you not want to hear the truth?" He questioned a few seconds later, but recoiled when the blonde stamped her foot and lashed out at him with all her might._

_"I don't want to hear your frigging lectures! All I want is to end this damned charade, find out what it going on, and __**go home!**__ Why won't you let me?" She screamed at him, all her worries coming out in a flash. _

_Instead of his expected reaction, LK sighed and wearily brought a hand to his face. "I'm afraid it's already out of my hands…" he muttered. "Remember that threat I told you about? Well, it's growing stronger and—well, hello there."_

_Alexis whirled around at his words suspiciously, but turned back with an accusing scowl. "Who the hell are you talking to?"_

Figures she wouldn't see it,_ mused LK to himself, watching the shapeless form behind the girl curl itself around her small body, sneering at him with point-sharp teeth and pointed tongue in a menacing smile. _

_"Oh, do be quiet," LK snapped, but the shadow just laughed soundlessly at him before fading into Alexis, who in turn frowned and hollered to get his attention._

_"Yo! Mr. Light Keyblade! Don't change the subject!"_

_The essence sighed to himself. _It's already morphing with her,_ he thought wearily, but instead smiled and shook his head at the girl._

_"I'm sorry," he apologized sweetly. "But our time is up. I'm afraid you must go back now." He continued smiling as she threw curses at him, a threat of watching him die a very painful and slow death hung by his own jacket, even as she vanished back to Hollow Bastion, and even as his charges' destinies became clear as night at that very spot of the fake Destiny Islands._

_"I'm afraid you've fallen, little light." He proclaimed to the empty air. "I'm afraid you've fallen, Darkest Light, and I'm afraid it's not that easy for you to get back up."_

¤

Riku sighed as he made his way back to his room at the Hollow Bastion castle, just back from reporting to Maleficent about his capture of Princess Jasmine. She seemed very…happy, for a lack of a better word, at something as he mentioned Alexis briefly.

He winced as he thought of his partner. He sincerely hoped she was back at their room, and if not, well, then he'd gladly go back to the Cave of Wonders to get her.

Stopping finally, he cautiously approached the wooden door, opening it an inch or so to peek in.

"Hi Riku! Where've you been?"

He smiled in relief as Alexis's voice floated in from the washroom. Walking over to his bed, he flopped onto it and rolled over in curiosity at the blonde's next words as she came out happily:

"Well, what do you think? I think it's a pretty nice change in style, don't you?"

The silver-haired teen stared openly as Alexis twirled in front of a floor-length mirror, her new long-sleeves curling around her body in a fitting way. Happy with the results, she faced Riku and smiled, waiting for his approval.

To be truthful, he would have thought of Terra wearing those, and not Alexis. But apparently, he thought wrong. The girl's new clothes somewhat resembled the ones of her Fear, with black, fitting pants and black boots, a red flower curling in a pattern on the side and a matching Chinese-styled sleeve-less black top with a red outlines. Her new sleeves, which were attached to her arms and ending at her palms, covered black gloves.

Riku swallowed nervously. "It's great."

Alexis grinned happily and hopped over to her bed, grabbing a book on the way. He watched as she opened to a page marked with a sticky note, and already engaged in the book, began reading.

_"You know," she started, eyes slowly drifting shut. "I'd tell you that when I wake up, I would be completely different, but now—now, it's too late."_

Riku's brows furrowed. _Was that what she meant?_ He thought, wondering as to why the Alexis before him was acting differently than the one in the dream… and winced. Her description of him, and the truth she'd been hiding from him, hit him full-force on.

Groaning into the pillow and ignoring the curious look his roommate gave him, he fell into a dreamless sleep, with a thought of trying to contact Terra for answers on his mind.

¤

"So… do you know what happened?"

Antonia frowned then nodded at Terra's words, letting her lean over her shoulder to read the page she had found on the internet. Doing so, the look-alike blinked for a few seconds before turning to the younger girl.

"Isn't… isn't that her sword?" She asked uncertainly. Antonia nodded.

"Ragnarok. I believe in some religions, the word represents 'the end of the world', and if that is true…" She trailed off, letting the girl figure out the rest.

"What you mean is… the sword is doing this to Alexis?" The whitenette nodded again and smiled.

"That is my guess. When I did as you requested and brought her to her dream, I had no idea the powers circling the sword would take that as an advantage and completely possess her." She paused.

Terra's eyes widened. "But… did Maleficent know of this when she let her have it? Or was it decided back at the Awakening…?" She groaned and clutched her head in her hands in frustration. "This is all so confusing!" She whined, but Antonia merely laughed.

"We can help prevent it one way," she suggested and the Fear's head snapped back up.

"Where to?" She asked, getting the girl's flow.

Antonia smiled.

"Back to my world, of course."

* * *

a/n: YAY. YAY. YAY. I am a very happy author, having gotten off the Writer's Block horse. The downside of that, though, is a complete mix-up of the plot. I'll be cutting off some of the worlds, and Alexis is now the MAIN CHARACTER. –hugs Rachelle plushie- But Rachelle's 'title' has been revealed, and she'll be mentioned _a lot _in the next two chapters or so. 

So now, the worlds I am gonna write about are Atlantica (coughimportantcough), some Monstro mentions (I hate that place), Neverland and Hollow Bastion, Traverse Town and the End of the World. Others will be mentioned some in Rachelle's part od the journey. –dances- I have already planned out who dies, who lives, who sacrifices—

-shuts up-

Anyways. If anyone wants to figure out what Antonia and Terra are going to do to help Alexis, think Buddhism religion 'and highest state of heaven you can achieve'. ; )

Until then, review!

Last note: I've doodled a few sketches of Alexis quickly, both in her Kingdom Hearts (this story) clothes, and in a design that I came up with for the next story. Both are in black and white and quickly done, and the KH2 design is not for sure. You can find them at my Homepage.

And if anyone wants to do fanart - please, be my guest.


	22. Blue Clouds : Chapter Nineteen

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Blue Clouds : Chapter Nineteen  
_( …__ playing, laughing, walking, sitting… )_

¤

**Suggested Song while reading until Riku-scene – Blue Clouds, Tsubasa Chronicles Soundtrack**

"So… this is your world?"

Antonia nodded as she and Terra stepped down from the platforms and down to the crystalline city below them. The look-alike frowned as she looked around in slight disgust.

"It's so quiet. Is everything alright?"

Antonia smiled and nodded, proceeding into the central plaza where a tall stone block stood, writing engraved onto its surface. "This world is unlike many others," she started, inclining her head slightly as she passed the monument. "It has…not yet been connected, I suppose you could say. Instead, it has been hovering on the edge of time for many millenniums, yet we have never come in contact with the barriers."

Terra shot her a look as they passed humble houses, heading to what seemed to be a large cliff, hovering at the edge of the city. "Barriers?"

Antonia ignored the question for a few seconds and just as the Fear thought she was going to answer, the whitenette put a finger to her lips to indicate silence. Nodding her head towards the edge, she let out a low whisper:

"Peek over the edge and tell me what you see."

Shrugging in confusion, Terra slowly made her way towards the slope. Glancing warily at her companion, and seeing her smile, she looked over and gasped.

"I can see so far from here!" She cried ecstatically, leaning forward further to observe the glimmering shields below, and even lower than that, where specks of worlds littered the dark space.

"Spiral is located above all worlds, watching over them." Antonia paused momentarily. "It is where prophecies are held."

Terra looked at her curiously, tearing her eyes away from the marvelous sight. "But why is no one here?" She inquired, sweeping the landscape with the same curiosity. "And the life here… what's wrong with it? The trees, the grass, and even the air… it has no life, does it?" She looked at the little girl suddenly, a look of fear on her face. "Does it?"

The girl shook her head and sighed. "There is only one purpose for this world, unlike the many others. All we do is keep the fates and destinies secured from others' eyes. I suppose… I suppose we've grown tired. …Look back at the city."

Terra nodded uncertainly and turned. Suddenly, as if a thousand Christmas lights have been just turned on, sparkling in frosty winter air, proudly, on the roof of a house… she could see them.

Wherever she looked. People. Everywhere – adults, children, seniors, teenagers – playing, laughing, walking, sitting…

"But…" Terra trailed off in amazement and turned back to her friend, mouth gaping. "But how…?"

Antonia spread her hands around her and grinned widely. "While the scenery around is dead, the world itself… it's alive, don't you see?" Laughing, she took off down the hill like the child she was supposed to be, and the left-behind blonde couldn't help but smile at the energy she seemed to get.

¤

"But what were you doing on Earth?" She asked once both of them were seated around the stone statue on benches, watching as the people passed them by.

"There is a rule, see." Started Antonia carefully, not sure as to how to explain it. "The stone behind us bares the current…major…prophecy, while on the other side, the age-long prophecy."

Both turned, gazing up, one in wonderment and one in admiration. "Read it," the whitenette whispered.

_At the center of the worlds where a planet stands,  
There are beings who have power in their hands  
One is Light; the darkest type  
One is Dark; the lightest kind  
One is Twilight; the most forgotten one_

_The confusion that will spread,  
The lies and tears that shall be shed,  
There will be a fact so clear:  
_

_Dark will fall,  
Twilight will stall,  
And Light will go_

_Affecting a world so close and far away,  
Hearts will turn,  
And eyes'll be grave  
A future may seem clear to them,  
But mist is clouding through objects at hand_

_One is destruction, wielded by the Darkest Light  
One is freedom, held tightly by the Lightest Dark  
Last is truth, clutched unknown by the Stranded Twilight_

_Though an object resides,  
At the edge of time,  
One to help them live—  
Until next time_

_The confusion that will spread,  
The lies and tears that shall be shed,  
There will be a fact so clear:  
_

_Dark will fall,  
Twilight will stall,  
And Light will go_

"…He called them… the essence… Lightest of the Dark, and Lightest Dark… didn't he?" Seeing the child's weary smile, Terra continued flatly.

"It's them, isn't it? Alexis is the Light, Rachelle is Dark, and their friend Michael must be Twilight."

Antonia clapped her hands. "Exactly! But the Light Keyblade is trying to prevent it – I don't know whether that's good, or bad. I was sent, sent from here, down to your world, to help them fulfill their destinies!"

"But they may die – it states that, doesn't it? 'Dark will fall, Twilight will stall, Light will go'. Would you still help them, even if it means leading some of them to their deaths?"

Antonia nodded slightly after a pause. "I…have to, you see? Whether we want to or not, no matter how much we try to prevent it, we can't stop it, and if we don't help it… it may turn out for the worst." She shook her head.

"What about the prophecy on the other side?"

Antonia smiled slightly and winked. "You're not allowed to know – not yet. But let's get what we came here for, shall we?"

The Fear smiled, but paused before rising. "Can I ask you one more question, though?" When her friend affirmed it, she continued. "Why are you so different here? Back on Earth, you are manipulative, and come off as someone who likes to hurt people."

Antonia stared at her for a while before laughing. "I'm sorry, but I cannot fully answer that. What I can tell you, is that the people who are born here, who have their roots here, are slightly affected by the world itself. As well, we get anxious when we are away from here for too long. Our memories of this place cease to exist, and…"

She shook her head again. "But let's go get Alexis's new weapon already."

"Weapon?"

"To counter against Ragnarok, you know. And since it is the sword of destruction, we must get something opposite of it."

The blonde finally understood, and muttered:

"_ Though an object resides,  
At the edge of time,  
One to help them live—  
Until next time "_

"I'm surprised you remembered it that fast!" Antonia giggled, but inclined her head otherwise. Terra smiled uneasily.

"Well, it does concern my Other—wait a sec!" Her eyes grew in slight panic and realization. "What'll happen to me? Am I a Nobody?" She cried.

"You can merge into Alexis any time you want, and no, you are not a Nobody." The white-haired girl explained simply. "But for now, I ask you to wait until the end, so you can help then. If you become complete with her right now, things just may worsen."

By now, the two reached the overlooking cliff where they stood some time ago. Stepping forward slowly, as if in a trance, Antonia began chanting in a foreign language.

In a minute or two it was over, and the child turned proudly around, an item held safely in her arms.

Terra blanched.

"A _fan_!?" She screeched, causing some of the people below to look up at them in confusion before returning to their lives. "What will she do with a fan?" Terra asked more quietly, still indignant.

"Raganarok is a sword – a weapon of brute force, strength, and deadly beauty." Stated Antonia flatly, all the while observing the gold, black, white and silver Japanese-like fan held in her arms. "Nirvana on the other hand, is a weapon of skill, agility, and cunning beauty." When the blonde still looked at the weapon as if it was a vermin of a sort, she sighed and swung the fan to her right.

Instantly, a gale of winds tore through the clouds hovering over the cliff, sending them to reform meters off. Antonia flicked her wrist, and a spiral of fire shot out, following after the winds and disappearing who-knows-where.

Terra stared at it open-mouthed. "Give me that!" She snapped and tore it from the girl's hand, imitating her previous actions and shooting out her hand to the side.

Nothing happened.

Antonia laughed as the Fear handed back Nirvana to her, sulking. "Only Alexis will be able to manage it. But there is a downside to all of this, though. Nirvana – that's what it's called, by the way… it draws a great deal of energy from the user, so she must be careful not to overdue it." She smiled as Terra rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"When you give her the fan at the end," she continued, tucking it into folds of her dress, "Remember to warn her, would you?"

Terra shrugged and pushed her glasses up her nose. "Okay, sure. Whatever."

Antonia smiled in satisfaction. "Okay! Now, Riku wants to talk to you about Alexis, so I suggest we get back down to Earth." She paused. "Oh, and you should probably appear before Alexis again, cause she doesn't remember anything from her dream – only Riku does." She shot the blonde beside her a warning glare. "And be careful not to spew any of your knowledge around! We don't need them knowing of the future!"

Terra grinned cheekily. "Well, it's your fault in the first place for letting me know some of things that will happen!" She whined mockingly. Antonia hit on the arm slightly and pouted.

"Okay!" She cried after a few seconds of poking each other. "It's time to go home, don't you think? Justin may be worried about me!"

"Oh yeah!" piped up Terra. "He doesn't know about you, does he?"

Antonia shook her head. "Nope! But I should tell him sometime, though. If I remember, that is."

Terra shot her a weird look. "Remember?" The girl nodded.

"I'll forget over-time about this visit, but don't worry! It should be after everything happens."

Terra nodded as the two set out back to the portal from where they came in the first place. "You're talking about the end of the game, right?" Antonia nodded, and Terra furrowed her brows. "What's gonna happen to the game itself?"

Antonia shrugged. "It'll still be there. Though not a portal anymore. It'll just be a normal game."

Terra nodded again. "And will the other world ever be open again?" Antonia smiled mischievously to her companion as she proceeded to step into the swirling white vortex.

"It depends."

¤

"Yo. You called?"

Riku turned at the voice, startled to see Alexis's Fear randomly pop into Monstro's belly. He smirked slightly as she scrunched up her nose in disgust.

"Ugh, where are we?"

"A whale's belly."

She made a face and whined quietly to herself, but shook her head and pinched her nose, breathing through her mouth to lessen the smell. "What'd you need?" She asked, sounding not quite right, at which the silver-haired boy laughed at before recovering and frowning.

"What's up with Alexis?" He inquired, crossing his arms. Terra shrugged innocently.

"What'd you mean? She reminds me quite of you, actually."

"Yeah, what _do _you mean?"

Both turned their heads as Alexis stalked in from the previous chamber and raised her eyebrows, tapping her foot. "I'm waiting, buddy-boy. And who's she?"

Terra winced at the choice of her Other's clothes, but stuck out her other hand never the less. "You know, I've always thought those kind of clothes looked better on me. But hi, I'm your Fear. You can call me Terra."

Alexis's eyes widened slightly with each word, and for a second, she was back to her previous self. "So that's why you look so familiar!" She grinned excitedly and shook the girl's hand. "You're a part of me!" She blinked after a few seconds. "Waiiit. How'd that happen?"

Terra shrugged and settled on a squishy part of the floor, ignoring the thoughts in her brain that went 'EW! EW!'. "Remember that time when you were sparring with a Heartless and it got you? Well, a part of your heart went away – that's me, hi and hello – and flew off back down to Earth." She wrinkled her nose, having taken off her hands due to the new voice she acquired and not liking it.

"And Ansem, being the total bastard that he is, didn't bother returning it."

Both teens in front of her frowned deeply. "Who's Ansem?" Asked Riku, and Alexis nodded.

"He's the guy with the ugly cloak who never likes to show his face hanging around with Maleficent."

More of Alexis started to show. "So… he's a bad guy?" Terra nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep! And he wants both of you to turn into a Heartless!"

It was Riku who began to laugh. "Us, into Heartless?" He stopped and chuckled, smirking at the blonde girl. "Right. As if they'd ever succeed in doing that."

Terra raised and eyebrow. "They've already half-finished it – to both of you."

She shot an extra look at the confused Alexis, before turning to Riku and narrowing her eyes.

"Be careful not to get turned into a Heartless too soon, both of you. Oh, and dark-boy?" She inclined her head towards Riku. "Don't loose her. I've told you what you need to know – don't forget it."

The two stared at the space where she had just been.

"Why do you still care about the boy?"

Both turned their eyes to Maleficent as she appeared seconds later, slowly walking towards them. "He has all but deserted you for the Keyblade and his new companions, after all." She continued before turning and nodding in Alexis's direction. "Your friend as well."

Riku snorted. "I don't care about him. I was just messing with him a little."

"Same for me." Alexis's voice shocked them both and they turned to listen to her. "I don't care about Rachelle," she continued angrily, curling her fist as if suddenly overcome by anger. "I don't care what she does, what she thinks. She seems to be having fun traveling with her new companions, so why should I stop her?" She quieted down after her little rant, leaning against a colorful wall and frowning.

Maleficent watched her in sick interest before returning back to Riku. "Of course you were," she agreed, smiling widely. "But beware of the darkness in your heart. The Heartless prey upon it."

Alexis made a slight choking noise in the background, and Riku was vaguely reminded of the blonde's look-alike's words, and he scowled at the retreating back of the witch.

"Mind your own business!" He snapped, glaring at the space where she had just been. He turned as Alexis sighed deeply and stood up, following Maleficent to the portal.

"I don't feel too well," she explained curtly. "Mind telling Rachelle to not look for me anymore? Thanks." Her back tensed for a few seconds after the words but she continued walking. Riku could hear her muttering to herself.

"What the hell?" She murmured before stepping into the portal and disappearing.

"Riku!"

Just as Pinocchio came running past him with Sora hot on his heels.

* * *

a/n: whoo! Writing spree. : D –runs off to write the next chapter- I'm also thinking of writing a bunch of oneshots about Rachelle, Michael, and Alexis so look out for those as well. : ) 

Review please, and tell me what you think! I'm thinking about ending the story at 30-40 chapters, and I'd love it if I got 100 reviews. ; )


	23. Running Through My Mind : Chapter Twenty

**Legitimate Game**  
_Are you sure this is supposed to happen?_

Running Through My Mind : Chapter Twenty  
_I run out to find myself staring straight into a wale's mouth. _

¤

"Shh, keep quiet."

"It's not my fault your guardians have cans set up around their house. I mean, who does that anymore? Ouch!"

Terra winced as she tripped over a string of cans in front of the front porch, muttering a string of curses under her breath. Antonia rolled her eyes after a few seconds of watching her and crept quietly to her room window, which was placed conveniently on the first floor.

"Come on; inside!" She whispered to her companion, who climbed in and fell on the bed, groaning quietly to herself in relief. "We're home, finally!"

Antonia huffed as she unscrewed Terra's shard jar. "I didn't know we were going to land that far off; I'm sorry!" She apologized for the tenth time that evening, recalling their two kilometer run to the house.

"Now in you go," she commanded to the Fear, who in turn made a face and concentrated, transforming into her crystal-form in a flash of light.

"…"

The whitenette laughed at the unheard complaint and put the lid back on. "I'll be right back," she whispered before unlocking her door and heading towards the bathroom at the end of the hall.

She stopped at the light coming from under Justin's room.

Curiously, she peeked into the room, smiling when she saw his head on his arms, asleep on his writing desk with the table lamp still on. Shaking her head, she walked forward quietly, but just as she was about to turn the light off, the crumbled picture caught her eyes.

She gasped and covered her mouth quickly as she observed the picture of Rachelle.

Pulling it from underneath the books it was placed under, she turned off the light and headed to the bathroom where she quickly brushed her teeth and ran back to her bedroom as safely as she could.

"Look at this!" She said, putting the drawing in front of the jar, where the shard twinkled for a few seconds, curiously watching it.

"……………!"

Antonia nodded. "It's her. He must have a connection of a sort with her… this, apparently, reflects who she is, in a sort, while away with Alexis and Michael." She paused to look more clearly. "The pond below her with the reflection shows her role in the prophecy, with her bracelet representing her light barely touching the edge. And the mirror above must be representing her past confusion of who she was. He has no connection with me, or to other worlds whatsoever, though, so I have no idea how he knows this."

"…?"

She smiled cheekily at the uncertain question and hid the drawing underneath some books. "It's symbolism, silly. Pretty easy to see, really."

She laughed at the insult thrown at her after the reply and crawled into bed, falling asleep without a second thought.

¤

**( Rachelle )**

Okay. Today, has not been a good day. First, we have to defeat a gigantically and annoyingly long centipede that is made of _pots _in a city where the sun beats down on your hot, sweaty back 24/7 just to rescue a Princess, whom I don't even like (that) much. Then we find out that she isn't there and that we, in fact, did not have to fight the zombie-styled bug.

I can understand that. Yeah, evil guy makes us run around for no reason at all. Mm-hmm.

So we head off to the Cave of Wonders where the entrance is a FRIGGING HEAD that spews Heartless and light beams that resemble cheap copies of Star Wars airship beams from its glowing eyes.

I can understand that, too. I can also understand that I am getting pissed off. Slightly. Big tiger head, no big deal.

Then we have to avoid black bottomless pits inside just to find that if you fall you will not die but land in nice, cold, water. A maze, not that bad. We get to rest for a while and refresh ourselves with a supposed Save Point.

Day is slightly looking up.

But then it's all crushing down.

As soon as we enter a room with gold coins, jewels, and who knows what other riches, there is Alexis lying unconscious on the ground, bathed in the light, but deathly pale. Thankfully she wakes up, but starts mumbling about Riku – him, for god's sake! – and then spews some stuff about me being called 'Lightest of the Dark' and disappears.

What the hell?

Well, at least she's okay.

We walk on further, defeat the ever-annoying Jafar once and for all, then get Jasmine kidnapped RIGHT FROM UNDER OUR NOSES. But then we thankfully return to our Gummi Ship where I can get a good nap before being shaken awake by banging furniture around me.

I run out to find myself staring straight into a wale's mouth.

Not something a girl likes to see after having an especially longed-for sleep.

Crash inside the whale, follow Pinocchio to where Geppetto is, get the puppet stolen by non-other than Riku, forcing us to run around the whale's stomach looking for him.

But if Riku's here, then Alexis is here, right?

Right.

So with high hopes, I follow Sora and the ever annoying Disney failures destroying Heartless all the while trying to ignore what we might be running on.

We find Riku, Sora accuses him of being on the completely wrong side to fight on – I almost hugged him and resisted the urge to yell at him happily about having his common sense back – but then the useless wooden puppet who Silver wants to kidnap spluttering about hearts and such gets eaten by a huge – and ugly, mind you – Heartless that has acid spewing from it.

Can you spell 'ew'?

So we defeat it and just as I am about to do my lil' Victory Dance Plus+, Pinocchio falls into a hole that was supposedly under the monster, and just before jumping in after him, Riku turns to me and shouts:

"By the way! Alexis wanted me to tell you that you can stop looking for her, because she officially doesn't care about you!"

Leaving me stumped and having Sora look on in worry at me before jumping after his best friend. Goofy pats me on the shoulder reassuringly but Donald just ignores me before both disappear as well.

Plus one on respect for Goofy and minus twenty for the duck.

I, having no other choice and not really wanting to wander around the insides of a whale alone, go after them and find Riku proposing for Sora to join him in finding Kairi's heart together – the girl had her heart stolen? Ouch… -- but Keyblade Master refuses and yells about the silver-haired brat not having a conscience. Riku in turn muses about him fighting for a puppet.

And all the while Jiminy is ranting about how happy he is to have Pinocchio alive, blah blah. I'm glad for them. Really. Yes, realllyyyy.

But the good moment must come to an end, and we get attacked by the ew-y Heartless that spews acid that somehow managed to get reborn again. And there is no help from Silver, too – he just goes and leaves through a darkness portal.

Wonderful.

So now I'm finally lying back in my room on the Gummi Ship after managing to escape from Monstro, hopefully to never see him again. We're on our way to Atlantica, so that would be kinda cool. I want be a pretty little mermaid, la la la la…

Okay, I think that was just Donald yelling at me to shut up.

I'm appalled.

Anyways…I miss Alexis. Sure, we did not always see the same on things, but she was fun to have around, and was a wonderful friend… why… why would she just go and say she doesn't want to be my friend anymore? That's so unlike her… is it Riku who's affecting her? Is it Maleficent, or whoever else she is working for?

**Have you ever considered she was plain tired of you?**

I growl at my inner-most-stupider-voice and mentally sqwuash it like a bug. But it doesn't shut up.

**Really. Think about it. You've always been just too different.**

I pause. It's true… ever since she moved to be my neighbor, she's acted different than most kids her age. And when I asked her why she was like that, she said that when the time was right, she'd change…

**So you see, it's all your fault.**

"Shut up!" I say out loud, scowling. "She changed when we came to be in sixth grade, so ha. Nothing I'm doing now is changing her."

And it is true, in a way. I remember bugging her for days when we got to Middle School about how she was not worried of what others would think – I was such an idiot back then. It was all about 'fitting it' and 'being cool' to me.

I'm grown up now.

But back then, she snapped at me and almost made a scene in front of the whole school, but thankfully calmed down and told me calmly that if it was worrying her that much, she'd change, to make herself more 'normal'.

Heh. Alexis was never normal. Never was, isn't, never will be.

She just has that little 'zing' inside of her, just as Justin's sister and Michael have, than make them stand out from the crowd, make you notice them. And you can't help but like what you see.

I wonder why I'm not like them. To be truthful, it has never mattered much to me.

**You are darkness, that is why.**

Okay… so apparently, my subconscious mind has a mind of its own. Um, cool? "What do you mean?" I ask to the air in my room, pretty much ignoring the fact I was talking to someone who wasn't even real.

**Have you never noticed it? Your two friends are always so cheerful, so creative, so bright… You leave yourself serious and closed in. **

Frowning, I roll over on my stomach and sigh into my pillow. "Who are you, anyways? You're certainly not me." I mumble, bringing my hands under me.

**No, I am not you. But I am a part of you.**

I blink. Then slowly, ever so slowly, I bring my hand with the staff-bracelet up to my face – and oh my god, I think it's twinkling at me.

**My true name is Treumur. Hello, I am your light. Nice to meet you.**

I stare stupidly at it as it stretches out to its full length, appearing before me in a few seconds – but it's not the same. The handle is white, the sun is yellow, and the spikes are rainbow, sparkling with colors of every shade imaginable.

"Um, hi?"

As I reach out to touch it, it changes back to its normal state as soon as my fingers brush its base.

**Your darkness clouds my light, therefore you cannot unleash my true power.**

"True power? Darkness?" I ask, sitting up in interest and putting the staff before me, causing it to instantly change back to the mesmerizing form before.

…**Would you like to hear a story?**

I feel very foolish now, talking with an object lying on my bed. But hey, I'm flying on a thing that looks like jelly cubes through space towards a Disney world with little mermaids and merman.

And singing. Can't forget that.

"Sure."

I swear I can hear the thing clear its voice.

**As I am sure you know, there are three important elements existing, other than the basic ones. These are Light, Dark, and Twilight. A long time ago, they ruled and existed fairly, but greed overtook them, and so Light and Dark begun to fight.**

**Twilight, as its name suggests, was stuck in the middle as its counterparts dueled. Finally, the other elements grew tired of them, and sealed their powers away. Now, only a fragment of it remains, still causing harm to the people.**

**In a prophecy… a prophecy made long ago, intertwining with the age-long prophecy, speaks of three humans from a world called Earth – your world, if I am not mistaken – that wield a part of Light's, Dark's, and surprisingly a small piece of Twilight's powers.**

**Those humans, now, are you.**

Gob-smacked, I continue staring at my weapon that just told me a bed-time story. Now, you see, I am not a big fan of fairy tales, but this…

"I am Dark, Alexis is Light. Who is Twilight?"

Somehow, I find myself believing this.

**You do not know yet? The boy you know as Michael is currently residing at the castle where Light is.**

I blanch. "Michael is here? But how?"

**The witch Maleficent brought him here not soon after your appearance. She has the boy under her control, but if all goes as it is told by the prophecy, we shall be fine.**

We? What about him? Instead, I ask:

"Can you tell me prophecy you keep on mentioning?"

I think the rod just chuckled.

**Gladly.**

**At the center of the worlds where a planet stands,  
There are beings who have power in their hands  
One is Light; the darkest type  
One is Dark; the lightest kind  
One is Twilight; the most forgotten one**

**The confusion that will spread,  
The lies and tears that shall be shed,  
There will be a fact so clear:**

**Dark will fall,  
Twilight will stall,  
And Light will go**

**Affecting a world so close and far away,  
Hearts will turn,  
And eyes'll be grave  
A future may seem clear to them,  
But mist is clouding through objects at hand**

**One is destruction, wielded by the Darkest Light  
One is freedom, held tightly by the Lightest Dark  
Last is truth, clutched unknown by the Stranded Twilight**

**Though an object resides,  
At the edge of time,  
One to help them live—  
Until next time**

**The confusion that will spread,  
The lies and tears that shall be shed,  
There will be a fact so clear:**

**Dark will fall,  
Twilight will stall,  
And Light will go**

"Dark… will fall? That's me, isn't it?" I ask after a few minutes of pondering my thoughts. "Twilight will stall; that's Michael. And Light will go? Alexis…" My eyes widen and I think I am about ready to cry.

"Fall, Stall, and Go! All of them… we'll die, won't we?" I cry and lean towards the item on my bed in rage. "Tell me!"

It is a few seconds before Treumur responds.

**I am afraid I cannot tell you, for even I know not the outcome of this. Your destiny will take care of you.**

Hiccupping in panic – really, how would you feel if you found you just might die? – I manage to calm myself down enough to speak.

"But it also says an item that 'Helps them live – until next time', doesn't it? And what we're supposed to hold – Alexis, Light, has her sword, Michael, Twilight, I'm uncertain, and I, Dark, have you! That's it, isn't it?"

**I am glad you understand. As it states, I am your Freedom – 'one is freedom, clutches by the Lightest Dark'. You are only known as Lightest Dark because you have me, a weapon of light. Alexis, as you call her, holds destruction, a power of dark. And your other friend holds truth – a power of twilight. **

"I see now…" I mumble, reciting the prophecy in my mind. "I'm Lightest Dark because I am affected by Light, Alexis is Darkest Light because she has powers of Dark with her, and Michael has something of Twilight."

The staff sighs in relief in my mind.

"But the thing that'll help us live, what is it?" I ask curiously.

**Do not worry of that. It has already been found, and is being kept in good hands. It will come into play when it's time is near.**

I smile. "That's good." Sighing, I flop back down onto my stomach, now facing Shimmer – Treumur – and slide my fingers across it as it turns back to its boring form.

"I'll never be pure enough, will I?"

He replies when I release him to fall of the bedspread.

**I am afraid not, Lightest of the Dark. Your… fate, destiny… it will come to you soon, do not fret.**

Sadly, I smile and roll under my covers, leaving the rod to rest by my feet.

"That's good."

And when she finally falls asleep, the voice of Treumur, the blessing of Light, echoes deeply in the recess of her mind, in hopes she will dismiss it as a dream, for she does not need to know.

**Yet you must hurry, little dark… I worry for your friend. She is being controlled… like a useless puppet. Hurry, if you wish to save her.**

¤

Somewhere, worlds away, on a boat that rocks gently on waves in the night, a silver-haired boy repeats the words, unknown to himself, to a motionless body lying before him.

"So, Kairi's like a lifeless puppet now?"

Maleficent's cloak moves with her as she raises her arms. "Precisely."

Riku frowns and his voice shakes. "And her heart was…"

"Taken by the Heartless, no doubt." Continues the witch, a smug undertone entering her voice.

No one notices as a dark figure with blonde hair slides in from the deck and creeps closer to them.

Riku suddenly whirls around, his hands in fists in fierce determination at his sides. "Tell me!" He cries. "What can I do?"

"There are seven maidens of the purest hearts," lectures Maleficent, using her hands for momentum. "We call them the princesses of heart. Gather them together, and a door will open to the heart of all worlds. Within lies untold wisdom. There you will surly find a way to recover Kairi's heart."

Alexis doesn't like how the witch says the girl's name – as if it was a sweet, yet poisonous candy – but never the less, she walks closer to them, still unnoticed.

"I'd like to help," She finally speaks up, bringing both of their attentions to her. She thinks a flash of uncertainty and doubt crosses the silver-haired teen's eyes, but she is unsure as it is soon replaced by determination and hope.

"Oh?" Maleficent strides closer to the motionless little girl in the center of the room, staring up at the witch imposingly. Alexis doesn't like the look of greed which crosses her eyes, either, but remains silent.

"Do you truly wish to help?" Maleficent asks, and Alexis nods.

"I do."

"Very well then. Hand me your sword."

Unwilling to trust the witch, yet as if controlled by someone, she takes the blade out and holds in front of her as Maleficent's hands run over it – she can't help but notice how unnerving the green glow that settles over her sword looks, or how the blade seems to glint less – and the witch chants for a minute, before pulling away her hands and smiling smugly.

"I have given you large power, child. Use it well." She turns back to Riku and Alexis's hands run over her weapon.

The designs are no longer green but a blood-lusty red and the steel is freezing to the touch.

"Now, I'll grant you a marvelous gift." Maleficent is speaking to the boy again as he looks on curiously. "The power to control the Heartless!"

A cry fights to escape her lips as the blonde watches her friend be surrounded in the same green light, but something strangles it – something cold, unforgiving, and dark.

She wants to bring her hands to her throat to force it out – to wash her mouth, to choke, something to get rid of it.

It stays until she stops trying to scream, but by that time the episode is over and Riku is now looking at his hands in wonder. Slowly, he turns to face the unconscious girl on the red couch.

"Soon, Kairi. Soon." He whispers and Maleficent portals herself out, a sly, wide smile of satisfaction on her face.

"I don't like what she did."

Her words seem unnatural in her mind, but her heart is screaming for them to be heard. "I want to go somewhere," she continues, pacing the room as Riku turns to her in puzzlement.

"Let's go somewhere, please? Please, Riku?"

As she looks out towards the stars shining brightly in the night sky, he can't sqwuash the feeling that stirs within him and agrees.

* * *

a/n: …. 

Fluff coming. Yeah. And random titles rock.

Oh, and my **75th, 90th, and 100th** reviewers get a Kingdom Hearts oneshot written of their choice. Just um, no AexelxRoxas or RikuxSora cause I'm no good at those. If it has an OC, please provide me with a setting, appearance, personality and slight background.

Reviews are luff. 3


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